NoFace for Film

Title: The Departed
Year: 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen
Rated: A bloody, well-deserved R

NoFace for Film rating: 6.5 out of 7

Ho. Ly. Shit.

This film is AMAZING. Brilliant. Intense. Fantastic cast.

Allow me to elaborate.

The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, starring an all-star cast of its own. Infernal Affairs was actually a trilogy, and Scorsese squeezed all three into one film.

The story focuses on two young men and the two old men who use them. Colin Sullivan (Damon) and Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) are both police officers for the Massachusetts State Police Department. Unbeknownst to the police, Colin is actually an informant for Frank Costello (Nicholson), a crime boss in the Irish mafia. Meanwhile, Billy is sent undercover to infiltrate Costello’s gang. Not surprisingly, both the police and the mob find out their respective moles, and it becomes a race between Billy and Colin to see who is discovered first.

I tell ya, this movie is excellent. The only reason I don’t give it a perfect 7 is because it’s so intense and emotionally charged that I can’t bear to watch it again, not for a long time. It’s too much to take at once.

All the male leads and supporting cast were awesome. DiCaprio was terrific as Billy. He brings a deep, grim sense of realism in his role as an undercover cop. We sympathize with Billy as he’s terrified for his life every instant, as he’s forced to commit these crimes. We see Billy’s physical and mental health spiral downward the deeper he gets involved, and because he’s undercover, he has no one to talk to. I have said this once, and I’ll say it again: Leonardo DiCaprio is truly a great actor, and he should finally get the accolades he has long deserved. Matt Damon is wonderfully despicable and loathsome as Colin. I love the contrast between their lives and jobs. On one hand, you see Billy forced to run around with scumbags, dishevled and dressed like a bum. On the other hand, you see Colin, the goody-two-shoes model cop; clean shaven, wearing a neat suit and tie, working at his desk, all the while feeding information to his real boss. You really hate Damon in this film.

Speaking of villians, Jack Nicholson proves once again that he’s at his best when he’s playing nasty, evil people. As Costello, Nicholson is the Devil with a grin and a wicked sense of humor. There’s a really funny scene where Costello meets up with Colin at a seedy porn theater. I’ll bet you anything that scene was ad-libbed and Scorsese decided to keep it in the film. As his counterpart, Martin Sheen played the kindly Captain Queenan. While Queenan was a much weaker character, it’s not Sheen’s fault since the part called for an old man who sits behind a desk all day. He’s not supposed to command a strong, dominant presence, unlike Nicholson’s Costello.

Meanwhile, a pleasant surprise came from Mark Wahlberg, who played the grouchy Sargeant Dignam, Queenan’s second-in-command. You know how in interrogation scenes in crime dramas there’s always a “good” cop and a “bad” cop? Well, Dignam is the “bad” cop, constantly berating and insulting his fellow officers, liking no one except for Queenan. He got most of the funniest and best lines in the movie, and whenever he opened his mouth, the whole theater laughed their asses off.

I’d say that the weakest character, not surprisingly, was of Madolyn, played by unknown Vera Farmiga. As the police psychiatrist and Colin’s girlfriend, Farmiga really didn’t have a lot to work with. The girlfriend/wife roles always suck, and sometimes I wonder why they even bother to include such an unnecessary character.

As for the story itself, I don’t know how close it was to Infernal Affairs, but like most Scorsese films, it’s intense as all hell. It’s riveting, emotionally charged, and you’re on the edge the whole time as you watch Billy and Colin try to find out each other’s identities while trying to cover their own. Naturally, the audience feels more nervous for Billy, because he’s the good guy, and because the mob tends to be a lot more merciless that the police are in dealing out their version of justice.

I will be seriously pissed if DiCaprio and Scorsese are denied the Oscar again. For the love of God, give these two men that damn statue already!

I highly recommend you all to go out and see this film. Right now.

Technorati Tags: Infernal Affairs, remake, Martin Scorsese, The Departed, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, police informant, undercover cop