We won! Yes! We now have a real chance at the Division title. This was homecoming and another great nail-biting game at Robertson Field! I think we were on our feet far more than we were in our seats.

GO COOGS!

After a late morning start, area organization meetings, and the football game, we drug ourselves over to Edwards to see Departed with a packed-to-the-walls audience. Wow. Amazing acting except for Matt Damon. Not that he didn't do a decent job but he never crossed that magic line where I saw him as Sullivan - he was just always Matt Damon to me, albeit a greedy, ambitious, sociopathic Damon. (With my critical reviews, that means he’ll probably get an Oscar) DeCaprio was excellent in every way imaginable! Jack Nicholson was almost satanic as South Boston mobster Frank Costello. Martin Sheen was absolutely believable and that death scene...well, I'm not sure some of the audience will recover. Mark Wahlberg was so in role that I almost cheered out loud when he finally got decked! Vera Farmiga did a decent job with the shrink although I must admit to my weariness with the film industry's determination to have those in my profession so easily and often falling into bed with clients. I liked her on the Law and Order episode I saw and liked her in this. I think her role, while seemingly quieter compared to the male roles, had more depth and feeling opposed to just unrestrained emotional "id" reactions of the other characters. The F bombs got pretty old and overdone after a while yet fit the characters.

As we walked out of the theatre, I couldn't help but consider the stated hypothesis of the film....cop or crook~there's really no difference. I think it should have been crooked cop or crook~there's no difference, referring to the ease with which Scorsese's characters remove whatever stands in their way, real or imagined. Hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. So many subplots and messages buried in this work, not the least of which is where misguided loyalty can lead. Others in the cast gave probably some of their best performances ever and I think we haven't heard the last of this film.