After having endured the insufferable "Flyboys" on the hop over, I was about ready to give up on the silver screen altogether and not even bother checking the in-flight entertainment possibilities. But curiosity (and the triumph of hope over experience) eventually lead me to see what options were available from Manila to Minneapolis. Fortunately, since the calendaer had now turned over to February, a whole new spate of movies could be viewed at the touch of a button (several touches actually). One of them was "The Departed."
Contrary to what you may have heard, it's not a great movie. To mention it in the same breathe as "Goodfellas" would be blasphemy. But it was a good movie and after my recent disappointments with the big screen, watching a good movie more than fulfilled my downgraded expectations.
Despite Jack Nicholson chewing through scenes like a locust swarm on a Kansas wheatfield, overall the acting was quite good. I've never been a big fan of Mr. DiCaprio, but he was excellent in this flick. Easily his best work ever. Matt Damon was solid and Marky Mark played it to the hilt (but not beyond) as a foul-mouthed cop.
It was a little long and the love story angle probably not necessary. All in all though "The Departed" was entertaining and compelling enough to hold my interest throughout. Two attributes that are all too rare in movies these days.
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