OK, so I just saw "The Departed" the other day, found it slightly flawed, couldn't put a finger on why. Then it came to me - Leonardo DiCaprio was miscast. For some reason, Martin Scorsese has decided that he's his new Robert DeNiro. I think Leo's all right - I quite enjoyed him in "The Aviator" - but I'm just not buying him as a gangster (or gang infiltrator). So I was thinking yesterday, "Who could have played his role in 'The Departed' better?" Of course my thoughts turned to Jake and Heath. I figure Jake could have pulled it off because I believe he can do anything. But Heath - oh, my. There's your new Robert DeNiro. His look would have been *perfect* for it. And he totally could have pulled off the Southie accent (which I find similar to an Aussie one, anyway) and *TOTALLY* could have pulled off all the subtlety required of a conflicted undercover cop. Wow. It would have been a masterpiece with him in the role. As it was, whenever Leo was onscreen, it kind of fell flat for me. Frankly, whenever Matt Damon was onscreen, it kinda fell a little flat, too. I used to think he could do anything, but I'm starting to think he's being overrated in this one. His performance, minus the accent, is no different from his performance in the "Bourne" movies.
So then I think OH, MY GOD. Jake as Colin Sullivan. That's IT. Imagine that - Jake can totally pull off Irish. And again, Jake would have had all the subtlety of a slightly conflicted corrupt cop.
My heart bleeds for what could have been...
It's still entirely worth seeing for Mark Wahlberg's habitual scene stealing. He literally steals the scenes he's in from every other actor in the movie, including Jack Nicholson. How nice it is when your low expectations are vastly exceeded. Much nicer than when your exceedlingly high ones are shattered.