The Cinephile’s Journey: The Departed

Recommendation: 4/5 Stars

The Cinephile’s Journey is an attempt to watch and review every film that has won The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscar for Best Picture.

Plot: “An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.” -IMDB

Review: Unlike a lot of other movies that seem to take home the award of Best Picture, there is no great lesson or insight to glean from The Departed. You will not walk away from this film as a more empathetic person with a better understanding of some long-ignored community. This is an award winner because it is an ode to great storytelling. Simple as that.

Before diving deeper, I must mention my only complaints about this film. The dialogue is a little too smooth. On multiple occasions, I thought to myself, no one talks like this. No one. Second, after all these years, I am still not crazy about the bloodbath ending of this movie. To me, it feels cold and contrived. On both counts, I know people who will defend the screenwriting of this film. Neither of my complaints distracts from the overall power of the film (which is saying something considering one of those complaints is the resolution of the story).