The Departed

This was always one of my favorites. I still seem to like it a lot. It's entertaining like Sheephead and other complicated but thrilling card games -- they're brain-busters if you let them be, or you can just enjoy the ride. Sheephead and The Departed have never given me anything but a fun and exciting time, regardless what I've brought to the table intellectually. I loved both before I could follow either. The Departed is so energetic; I'm engaged for every minute of the 151. The music and humor and intensity drive. Everyone is intense. Almost every actor is awesome. Once I heard Jack Nicholson pulled down the average with an ostensibly flimsy accent, but I don't get that; it seemed consistent to me (whether or not it was accurate), and he seemed classic. Vera Farmiga is really my only issue. It's not that I mind her in the movie as a whole, being the only female, but I don't really like her acting performance, including the accent, which definitely seems inconsistent. The movie would elevate with an authentic woman. The writer must not know how to write women, given the minimal quantity and quality, or not care. Costello's object/whore is written better than Farmiga. So apparently neither her acting nor his writing helps the other.

But the men are all iconic in my moviegoing history.