Best - Best Picture Winner of the Decade

The Departed (2006)

OK ... I'll admit it, I'm a Scorsese fanatic. I love his movies, his scripts, even his cameos. Therefore, read this with that in mind. Also, if you are offended by profanity and violence ... skip this film.

The Departed could have fallen under several categories, but I chose to name it The Best-Best Picture of the decade because several of the other Best Picture winners were, well, not best pictures in my opinion. In fact, none of the other Best Picture winners are in my list at all. No Country for Old Men should probably be on my list, but I chose to highlight another film by the Coens (anyone care to guess?).

Back to The Departed. Is it Scorsese’s best movie? Not at all. I would rank Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull as his trinity. However, The Departed is still a great film. If he had made it before Goodfellas, it may have made it into his top three films of all time.

The Departed is a remake of a Hong Kong film entitled 'WuJianDao', and I have to say I have not seen the original. What I can say is that Scorsese assembles a cast of acting behemoths. Think about it, Matt Damon, Leo Dicaprio, Jack Nicholson, Mark Whalberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin. It’s as good a male cast since Glengarry Glen Ross, maybe better. (And both these movies have who in them … that’s right Baldwin. Very underrated actor … check out The Cooler, one movie I wish I could have fit into my Top 40). All actors hold their own with each other, which elevates the acting to heights rarely seen. It was simply a joy to watch the actors delve into their roles.

Enough about the men…For my wife’s sake, I should mention that Vera Farmiga is one lucky actress. We watched The Departed again last week, and saw Up in the Air days later. She believes any woman who got to make out with Leo, Matt, and George had possibly the greatest decade ever!!!

I also would like to give Scorsese a shout out for treating Boston as a character in the film, just as he did with NY in films such a Taxi Driver and Mean Streets.

The plot … well, there’s no way to summarize it, just rent The Departed, or better yet, buy a copy. You won’t regret it. (Unless profanity or violence offend you, in that case, sorry to have wasted your time).