So, this is it… the quad-oscar winner, including best picture. It’s definitely worth the best editing, writing, and directing, but best picture? I’m not sure. Maybe of those nominated, but I haven’t seen the other nominees yet.
What it is, though, is an incredibly complex and nuanced story with a contrived amount of double agents, snitches, moles, and informants. Thanks to strong performances by Matt Damon and Leo DiCaprio, I found myself reminding myself who was working for who, who had what agenda, and who was on what side of the thin blue line. Damon is a detective sergeant that snitches for the mob boss, and DiCaprio is an undercover cop that infiltrated his organization. We’ve seen these sorts of roles before, but this is the first time I’ve seen them inhabited by Damon and DiCaprio, and they handle them with precision and authenticity.. Damon is the clean-cut desk sergeant on the surface with a rotten core that connives and plots against those around him, and DiCaprio is the street-smart cop with a criminal family that has gotten him so deep undercover he doesn’t know which way is up. This is another entry in a spree of great performances from DiCaprio.. he’s been amazing in Blood Diamond, The Aviator, and Catch Me If You Can. He can definitely be counted in the list of the next generation great actors.
The other performances, on the other hand, aren’t quite as enjoyable. Mark Wahlberg turns in a foul-mouthed, comedic, but ultimately irrelevant performance that’s fun to laugh at but often just gets in the way… avoiding spoilers, though, perhaps it’s not entirely unnecessary after all. And then there’s Jack Nicholson… probably one of our most talented actors, has one goofball scene after another that parodies his previous work with a manic, overstated performance as the mob boss. In the presence of more careful and targeted acting in the film, it comes across as silly and decidedly not criminal mastermind-like. As much acting clout as Nicholson has, I don’t think he has enough to make this role work. And Alec Baldwin, who has become sort of a master of A-list cameos, is ultimately forgettable and somewhat wasted.
The stuff that does work aside from DiCaprio and Damon is all Scorsese… the long, complex, unbroken shots interspersed with the quick, dramatic still shots, the symmetrical framing of key scenes, the broad color strokes, and the classic rock soundtrack that underscores scenes of severe brutality and once again creates that bizarre juxtaposition that can only be called “Scorsesian.” It’s a triumph for him to be finally recognized with an oscar for direction, although ironically I don’t think this is his best film. The Aviator, Goodfellas, and Bringing Out the Dead all show an artist at the height and mastery of his craft.. this movie shows us that he can still handle a cops and mobbers movie better than anyone, but I kind of got a “been here, seen that” feeling throughout this movie. Not that it made it a bad film, I thoroughly enjoyed it.. it’s just surprising that this movie won him the oscar.
I highly recommend this one. One down, many more to go for this amazing year for movies.
