Movie Review

The Departed

Nobody does gangsta like Martin Scorsese! "The Departed" is an awesome return to form, one of the best of the genre since, well, probably "Casino." It?s like an Irish "Goodfellas," only this time inside a police department. Taking place on the streets of Boston, the movie involves Collin (Matt Damon) and William (Leonardo DiCaprio), two state police cadets whose lives take different directions. Collin, whose actually an informant for mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), is made detective. William is put into a secret unit of undercover cops and is assigned to get into the inner circle of Costello. Soon both men realize there is a rat in their midst.

The first hour, Scorsese dedicates to his two rats nestling themselves inside their respective positions as informants - Collin rising through the ranks on the force while William getting closer and closer to being trusted by Frank, and feeling more and more edgy as he gets deeper. Not much happens plot-wise but it doesn?t really have to. We are treated to two great young actors dealing with two really well-written characters. Damon has a clean-cut, office-smart demeanor that works well for Collin. He is not a thug. He?s a master manipulator and liar and Damon is pitch-perfect in every way. And DiCaprio not only shows a tough, street-smart attitude but also an on-edge fear of the situation his character is in. The way he manages to combine fear with hard-core, balls-out toughness is phenomenal.

And Scorsese is a real showman here, staging gritty scene after gritty scene as only he can do it. Whether he has his actors talking shit with pitch-perfect Boston accents, spouting out brilliant dialogue; or having a guy being beaten with a coat-rack or falling from a six story window, this is a man who knows a thing or two about tension. Even the comedy he injects into this movie has edge, which Alec Baldwin surprisingly handles the best of anyone in the cast.

Nonetheless, this movie is all about mood, which brings me to the next hour and a half, where rats get weeded out and things really begin to heat up. A one-on-one conversation between Jack Nicholson, who gets his best villain since the Joker, and Leonardo DiCaprio. A scene where DiCaprio and Damon just listen to one another breathe into their phones, fully aware they?re listening to the other rat on the end of the line. Pick a scene and chances are it will leave you completely floored.

"The Departed" is made by master craftsmen, from its director to its actors. Add in music by the Dropkick Murphys and The Rolling Stones (yup, same songs he always uses), and you?ve got the Irish equivalent to "Goodfellas", by far one of the very best flicks I?ve seen this year.

Craig's Grade: B+

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%