So to compare it to Oceans 11 or even Naked Gun isn't really that big of a knock.

I mean all of these films can fit squarely into the category of 'fun crime flicks'. Some sillier than others, sure. But The Departed is more or less a comedy as far as I'm concerned. And everybody who was in the theater with me would probably agree. That shit got more laughs than Knocked Up.

And this is exactly what makes The Departed great. It's fun, the cast is great, and it's really fucking well made. There are some really stupid cop movie cliches in the film, but there's some fairly brilliant nuances tossed in there that set it apart from the herd. The love interest thing, I would agree feels underdeveloped and a bit shoehorned. On the other hand, it contributes to the symmetry of the movie as well as its rampant sexual subtext. So I have trouble seeing it as a fault. I dunno, admittedly, I have such a good time watching this movie, I have trouble seeing any fault in it.

The common denominator I see in what little criticism this movie gets is from people who were expecting some sort of "return to form" from Scorsese. Which it was, just not in the brooding, high-falutin' no plot havin' character study sense that some were wanting.