The Departed

The man with that pair of eyebrows is back behind a camera once more. This time he is helming a remake of Infernal Affairs (which I'm ashamed to admit I still haven't seen), the epic Hong Kong gangster flick from 2002. Transplanted to Irish mob run Boston, is The Departed 150 minutes of Scorsese at his harsh and violent best?

A tale of two rats, The Departed centers around the intertwined lives of two people from opposite sides of the law. Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) is a failing state police officer given the chance to go undercover as a mole in Frank Costello's (Nicholson) Irish mob. Counterpart Colin Sullivan (Damon) is a Costello mobster, undercover as a police officer in the department tasked with bringing down Costello. Suspicions and accusations give rise to a series of violent encounters as both moles are tasked with finding out the identity of the other.

With twenty minutes of back story before we even see a title card, you know your in for an epic journey. Thankfully Scorsese has paced things perfectly, and this tightly crafted tale uses every minute of it's lengthy runtime to full effect. Intense character driven scenes are punctuated with brutal, visceral moments of violence giving an engaging rhythm to the unfolding story. Despite the often harsh images things never feel gratuitous, just grittily realistic.

Assembling possibly the finest cast in a movie this decade, to say The Departed is excellently acted would be an understatement of vast proportions. I'm no fan of DiCaprio, but both he and Damon are eminently believable in there roles as the men with double lives. Jack Nicholson is ideal as the mob boss Costello, keeping scenery chewing to a minimum. Supporting the main three we have Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Ray Winston, and a brilliantly foul mouthed Mark Walhberg, all on the best form of their lives. Relative newcomer Vera Farmiga plays an important role as psychologist Madolyn, caught in between DiCaprio and Damon; it's clear people will be taking note of her after this.

Faulting the movie is hard to do without resorting to nit picking. There are some real jaw on floor shocks as things come to a head, but no real twist in the tale; a shame given the subject matter. Farmiga's relationship with DiCaprio and Damon doesn't quite reach the level it clearly wanted to achieve. One or two of the Boston accents are a little less than convincing at times... but this is all academic. When a movie is this good, you'd be foolish to dwell on such minor niggles.

Expertly crafted and superbly acted, The Departed is Scorsese's most satisfying movie since Casino. Set an evening aside to catch a master filmmaker at work.