I think it's overly harsh to say C-. I also think it's fair to ask what your F, C, and A+ is, so we all know what you're standards are.

I think it deserves an A.

Think back to the way, say, the first hour is cut. The past develops with the present. It's quick, tight--the film rushes you. But what makes it brilliant is the juxtaposition. Why has he jumped from the past to the present now? Now why has he gone back? Like other people have said, you catch smaller emotional and plot arcs with repeat viewings, and end up seeing how carefully (and I think successfully) DiCaprio's character is crafted. And in the the end that what makes him meaningful and resonant. I think the film is built on the first hour or so and, it doesn't coast, but it has enough momentum from that first hour to blast to the finish.

Marky Mark may be a bit too funny for his own good, but it's almost like the Jesus effect in Big Lebowski. An essentially minor character has only quality lines. Like it's all golden. I'm not saying that Marky is Jesus, but maybe you can see that good line after good line will eventually push someone over the top. Which taints it a bit, but I still think the character is great cinema.

I do agree that Jack is a bit hammy. And the love story is brief (and her accent comes and goes like the bus). But in my opinion the film is about DiCaprio. The characters, the setting, the dialog--it's all a buttress for getting inside Leo's head. Which it does a fantastic job of doing.

Clown away at me, but I also got a lot out of the new Harry Potter book from watching the Departed.

***spoiler***

Man, Severus is basically the same character as DiCaprio. I finished the book and then all of the sudden Severus came alive. Rowling did an ok job with his little flashbacks, but you want to understand Severus's pain, longing, his nerves of steel, feelings of alienation. I think the Departed accidentally fleshes out Severus Snape, and inadvertently turned JK Rowling into an author with real depth. Because we can really see what one of her hidden but lynchpin characters were really about.

Regardless, I still think the Departed was fucking ace.