>I didn't mind Ritchie's story personally, because I want to
>know what drives the cop who took Lucas down other than bland
>bullshit "the drive to be good."

If you didn't mind that part, I could see how you liked AG more than other people. I just didn't see any arc. He was good in the beginning simply because he was good. Most of the family stuff seemed pointless to me.

>No, but the Departed isn't good.
>
>And it is a crime story.
>
>If you're going to find differences in order to cop
>pleas for the Departed, feel free.

As I've said, if I had watched The Departed expect a true crime story, I would have thought it was ridiculous. I still think its ridiculous that Scorsese won best director for it since it looked like he just let people do whatever they wanted.

But I watched it with different expectations so I thought it was entertaining. It's like people who complained about Live Free or Die Hard because it was so over-the-top. I went in basically expecting a superhero movie so I didn't mind it when he was dancing on the side of planes or cars were running through walls and then hitting 60 pound Maggie Q who simply shrugged it off. I felt the same way about The Departed.

Casino, The Departed, American Gangster were all flawed films IMO. I think you could make a legitimate argument for preferring any of these over the other. Just as you cared about Ritchie's story, some people might have become invested in the Sharon Stone storyline.