The Departed: Second Best Movie of 2006

So I’m trying to decide the best movie of 2006. And it’s come down to 2 choices, both of which star Leonardo DiCaprio. /Blood Diamond\ and /The Departed\. I wasn’t a Leo fan until I saw Blood Diamond a few weeks ago and then tonight I saw him hold his own with /Jack Nicholson\ and now I’m on the Leo Bandwagon. I already did a quick /review\ of Blood Diamond, calling it a fantastic film and after pondering it a little bit, I have to give it my top honors for 2006. I love gritty crime dramas and The Departed is excellent, but Blood Diamond was a little more Grandiose and a little bit better directed. Here are my thoughts:

Martin Scorsese is a great director. No doubt about that. He crafted The Departed story extremely well and got some superb performances from /Matt Damon\, /Leo\, /Vera Farmiga\, and /Martin Sheen\. The gritty drama is the story of one bad guy playing good guy and one good guy playing bad guy. They are both working for a mob boss who is the epitome of evil and the pretzel like puzzle of who is helping who leads up to a dramatic showdown that leaves everyone covered in blood. It’s rare to find a movie that uses a great story as the foundation and then builds up with great acting and directing without overstylizing and ruining what started off great.

Here is an interesting factoid for you to take home and slip under your pillow. Matt Damon’s character lives in an apartment that has a view of the Boston State House. In real life that used to be Tom Brady’s (quarterback for the New England Patriots) apartment. Tom Brady now dates Brazilian supermodel /Gisele Bündchen\ and guess who her ex-boyfriend is? None other than Leonardo DiCaprio.