Film Review: The Departed (2006) A

Date Viewed: 10/11/06
Venue: DGA

The Departed is one helluva Scorsese movie. It's one helluva movie the same way Goodfellas or Casino is a helluva Scorsese movie. A twisting freight train of a crime thriller with exceptional performances, high drama, and filmaking at its finest.

Based on the Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs, The Departed follows Matt Damon and Leonardo Dicaprio as a pair of undercover men working against each other with Damon as a Boston police detective secretly working for Jack Nicholoson's organized crime outfit and Leo as a good cop in deep cover with Nicholson. The plot thickens as the cops work to bring down the organization and Dicaprio struggles to expose Damon as the police mole.

The pair's stories are tightly intercut and paralleled to great effect. While Damon is the bad guy here, deep characterization and subtle flourishes of guilt make me hesitate in calling him a straight-up villain. Dicaprio gives the performance of his career. Hard boiled, volatile, unstable. It's the first time I've ever seen him and not thought of him as a kid.

Supporting characters threaten to steal the show at every turn. Nicholson is still very Jack in this film, but there's imminent danger and violence brewing behind his eyes that lends him necessary credibility. Martin Sheen is also great as Leo's fatherly police handler. Alec Baldwin is hilarious. And Mark Wahlberg's fiery detective has about a dozen memorable profanity filled lines.

The action is superb, shockingly realistic and graphic. Director Martin Scorsese is in top form, serving up violence peppered with gallows-humor tough-guy laughs. The entire effort is flawlessly edited for maximum effect.

It's not quite perfect, though. A romantic triangle between Leo, Damon, and a police psychiatrist falls just sort of complete believability, and the film's final scenes of resolution drag on a bit longer than needed.

That said, The Departed is easily one of Scorsese's finest films. It's a taunt crime drama with near perfect execution and deep, well-rounded characters. You can't ask for much more than that. Highly recommended.