It’s very rare that I write anything about a movie, even though I watch plenty of movies and thoroughly enjoy a good number of them, but ‘The Departed‘ is one that is worthy of mention.

I caught ‘The Departed’ this past Wednesday after it arrived via Netflix, and I was expecting a great flick due to the reviews, however as any movie consumer can tell you reviewers seem too caught up in theatrics rather than just a good, entertaining movie. Well, ‘The Departed’ was both very well done and was very entertaining.

Directed by Martin Scorsese (Casino and Goodfellas), ‘The Departed’ was sure to not disappoint. Jack Nicholson was his usual self, delivering a top-notch performance, but I was most surprised with actually believing Leonardo DiCaprio was a tough guy as he played an undercover cop infiltrating an Irish-American gang lead by Frank Costello (Nicholson). Matt Damon’s character, Colin Sullivan, seemed to suit the whiney Damon, who I still cannot look at without laughing (Team America: “Matt Damon), perfectly. Mark Wahlberg also delivered a strong performance, playing undercover chief Dignam.

I love mafia movies and am enthralled by this genre, but I did not expect an Irish mafia movie going in. Apparently I missed one of the many previews, presumably because when I’m watching television ESPNews finds its way on the screen during any commercial breaks.

But ‘The Departed’ isn’t really about the Irish mafia, but rather deals with both the mafia and the police trying to find the mole that had infested in both operations. Even though the viewer knows who both moles are very early on, through a series of twists and turns and near misses, one watches with amazement how either side cannot figure the puzzle out. The ending is a bit of a surprise too, which is always great.

Check out ‘The Departed’ if you enjoyed ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘Casino’ or either of the ‘Godfather’ films (three doesn’t count because it sucked).

I also caught ‘Flyboys‘ and ‘The Prestige‘ within the last two weeks.

‘Flyboys’ revolves around the Lafayette Escadrille, a group of American pilots fighting for France in World War I. Despite being panned almost unanimously by movie critics, I enjoyed the film and thought the dogfight scenes were spectacular, though they were pretty short and the plot within the movie was downright weak. It’s worth the rent, but it is one of those movies that is better suited to be watched if you have a good surround sound system.

‘The Prestige’ is about two rival magicians trying to compete within London, often competing against each other for an audience and introducing new tricks while copying the other’s. In what was billed as being a movie you’d have to watch again to get the twist, I must say that supposed twist was about as hidden as the sun. In fact, after watching the movie I searched the Internet to see if I had somehow missed something. Nope, I had not. It’s still worth the rent based on the set design alone (early 20th Century) and a good performance by Christian Bale.

One movie to skip is ‘Man of the Year‘ starring Robin Williams. The film essentially lost me when they took a massive jab at corporations manipulating votes (10 minutes in, maybe). I’d tear into this movie more if I watched more than 30 minutes of it, but there’s just so many Robin Williams jokes a man can take before hitting the ‘eject’ button on his remote control.

Right Truth linked with Sunday Reading List 2/25/07...