OK, it’s a given that the Oscars are a complete joke, but what in the hell is going on with The Departed being nominated for five Oscars??! Best Picture, Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, and Best Supporting Actor?!?! We watched it the other night, and we both laughed all the way through. This is, it’s not supposed to be a comedy. Of errors. Let’s see. The story is entirely predictable, and yet not at all believable, the way it’s presented. The dialogue alternate between overblown, hokey and fairly amusing, but again, that’s not really the point. The movie reads like Friends meets The Sopranos, with Friends winning. The acting is mostly quite bad. Jack Nicholson is an old fool in a bathrobe - perhaps he’s supposed to represent Scorsese? Leonardo diCrappio is actually OK, but Whalberg, who I usually like, doesn’t do anything interesting with the purely character role. We were incredulous. The Departed gets a D+ — don’t bother!