BY LEAH ROZEN
CRITIC'S CHOICE
CRIME
Frank Costello (Nicholson), an aging crime boss in South Boston, carefully removes a bloody, severed hand from a plastic baggie. Sliding a wedding band off one of its fingers, he hands the ring to a henchman with the instructions, "Send it to his wife."
The Departed is not for the faint of heart. But scaredy-cats are going to miss a tremendously satisfying film, one that will have you leaving the theater saying, "Now, that was a movie." Director Martin Scorsese (The Aviator) reworks an '02 Hong Kong thriller called Infernal Affairs, and the result crackles with suspense and mordant humor. The movie follows two young cops who are leading dangerous double lives: Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) is assigned to go deep undercover and infiltrate Costello's gang. Meanwhile, Colin Sullivan (Damon), a social-climbing star in the state police, is really Costello's mole, tipping the gangster off whenever cops plan a raid. When the bad guys and lawmen both smell rats in their midst, Billy and Colin each scramble to uncover the other's identity before they themselves are caught.
DiCaprio, all grown up and with eyes that are deep pools of permanent hurt, is terrific. Damon is also good in the trickier role as a spy for the Mob. And while there's nothing restrained about Nicholson's gleeful turn as a bad guy who relishes his own malevolence, it sure is fun to watch. Departed doesn't tackle big issues and there's not that much point to it (other than that everyone lies and we all get caught in the end), but when a movie delivers like this one, why ask for more? (R)
Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley
CRITIC'S CHOICE
DRAMA
It's love in the afternoon. Sarah Pierce (Winslet) and Brad Adamson (Wilson), both vaguely dissatisfied with their marriages, start chatting at a suburban playground while pushing their kids on the swings. Several shared parenting sessions later and the lonely pair are passionately going at it while the tots snooze during naptime.
The easiest person to fool is yourself, and that's what everyone in Little Children, a superb satirical drama, is doing. But even as Sarah and Brad pretend that cheating is okay and that in one another they've found a soulmate, deep down they know better. And they're afraid. Amid all the sunshine and plenty of life in suburbia, Children dives into an undertow of dread. Turns out the bogeyman is out there lurking, manifested here in the person of a convicted sex offender (Haley) who has moved back to the neighborhood to live with his mother.
Based on a novel by Tom Perrotta and directed by Todd Field (In the Bedroom), Children is surprisingly funny, sharply observed and exceptionally well-acted. Winslet is brilliant, all pent-up heat and sexual longing. Wilson nails a certain type of laid-back golden boy, forever stuck in his adolescent glory days. And Connelly, as Wilson's wife, and especially Haley, as the tormented flasher, are heartbreakingly good. (R)
49 Up
DOCUMENTARY
Before there was The Real World, Survivor or any other long-running reality show, there was Seven Up. That's the 1964 BBC TV documentary that took an up-close look at a diverse group of British 7-year-olds, using as its starting premise the Jesuit motto "Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man." Every seven years since, director Michael Apted (Nell), a researcher on the original film, has checked on the progress of most of those kids. Now, in 49 Up, the latest chapter, they are well into contented middle age. One is a first-time parent, several are grandparents, a couple have changed partners, and a few are already plotting their retirement—either voluntary or forced.
For viewers who have seen earlier chapters, it's like revisiting old friends. For newcomers, there's enough footage from the previous films that you get a sense of how these people have changed and yet remained the same over the years. What becomes ever clearer, with every passing Up, is how in many ways class is destiny (at least in Britain) and yet how much people can surprise you—and themselves. (Not rated)
Robert Downey Jr., Channing Tatum, Shia LaBeouf, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest
DRAMA
Memories are tricky. With luck, more good than bad stays with you. Writer-director Dito Montiel remembers it all. In this autobiographical film based on his 2001 memoir, an adult Dito (Downey Jr.) recognizes that he must come to terms with his troubled past to get on with his life, so he takes an impressionistic tour back through his teen years growing up poor in Queens, N.Y. The young Dito (LaBeouf) hangs with rowdy pals (including Tatum), feuds with his dad and finds solace with a caring mom (Wiest). Saints is wildly uneven, but it does include sensitive performances by Downey, Tatum and Wiest. (R)
>He's an Oscar magnet and a fun date, but what else do you know about John Joseph Nicholson? Take our JSAT!
1. WHICH MOVIE DIDN'T WIN JACK AN OSCAR?
A. Terms of Endearment
B. As Good as It Gets
C. Prizzi's Honor
2. WHAT FAMILY SECRET DID NICHOLSON LEARN IN 1974?
A. His "uncle" was his brother!
B. His "mom" was his grandma!
C. He has an evil twin!
3. RANK JACK'S BABES FROM YOUNGEST TO OLDEST:
A. Paz de La Huerta
B. Anjelica Houston
C. Lara Flynn Boyle
4. WHAT'S THE NAME OF JACK'S FIRST MOVIE?
A. The Cry Baby Killer
B. Head
C. The Two Jakes
1.C; 2.B; 3.A (22) C (36), B (55); 4.A
>Pop star in aisle 10! This week Jessica Simpson clocks in as a big-box store cashier in Employee of the Month. But how does she stack up against real-life New York City Kmart employee of the month Leila Hernandez?
JESSICA'S UNIFORM Blue polyester vest, low cut shirts, tight jeans. Extensions by Ken Paves.
JESSICA'S PAYCHECK Reportedly earned $1,240 per word— $1 million—for Employee of the Month.
JESSICA'S DUTIES Registers, flirting with costar Dane Cook. Looking hot.
LOVE ON THE JOB Don't believe the rumors.
LEILA'S UNIFORM Red polyester vest, collared shirts, low heels, neat hair— "I wear a ponytail."
LEILA'S PAYCHECK Started at $5.75 an hour, worked up to management at $16.05 an hour.
LEILA'S DUTIES Registers, customer service, returns: "Wherever the bosses need me."
LOVE ON THE JOB "I believe it can happen."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
