The Departed (2006)

The arrival of the departed (duh)

Martin Scorsese is finally back to his best but will this be is ticket to the elusive Oscars?

For starters, this movie is adapted from the blockbuster Hongkong flick, Infernal Affairs. While the main gist of Infernal Affairs remains, The Departed is not identical to Infernal Affairs. New plot and style are being introduced. So don't worry if you have watched Infernal Affairs, The Departed is a different ball game.

Jack Nicholson stars as Frank Costello, the kingpin of Boston. To gain an upperhand on the police, he plants a rat with the police. This rat is Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) and his job is to tip Costello when and where the next police operation will be. Think Costello is genius? Think again. Unknown to him, there is a rat in his gang of Irishmen too. Rat number 2 is Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio). As he is from a complicated and shady background, he is the perfect candidate for the job. Captain Oliver Queenan (Martin Sheen) and sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) are the only people in this world who know about Costigan identity. Both rats lead almost parallel lives and to make things worse, they both fall for a smart and beautiful psychiatrist, Madolyn (Vera Farmiga). Who will win this rat race or just survive this rat race?

Jack Nicholson has to be the scene stealer for The Departed. With his mad and savage way of potraying Costello, he is devil in the flesh or to put it in his own words: " the ultimate incarnation of evil". His psychotic performance makes me shift uncomfortable in my seat. His portrayal of Costello is so volatile that you can't figure out his next step. His emotions change so fast that you will not know what hit you. His character complements DiCaprio's Costigan. When Costello's outbreak occurs, you will just feel worried for Costigan.

DiCaprio's character is different from Tony Leung's one. Costigan seems more edgy and somehow inexperienced than the original character from Infernal Affairs. No doubt Costigan is a strong guy but again, he is working for Costello. Maybe Tony Leung might crack under pressure too. Eric Tsang's mob boss character just seems to pale in comparison. Another stellar performance from DiCaprio and proves to critics that he can act, yes i can repeat myself again, he can act. This might just be his break through role.

When I look at Matt Damon, I can only see a nice goody 2 shoes kind of guy. But boy, he proves me wrong. This is the first time I've seen him act like this. His character Sullivan just stinks. Sullivan is one big fat rat and when I see him on screen, I just cannot help but squirm. He is definitely more cunning than Andy Lau's character. Damon is not the Will Hunting i know of anymore.

While Infernal Affairs preaches on style, The Departed is more graphic and straight forward. Fashion wise, you can forget about the nice suits in Infernal Affairs, T shirts and baseball caps are the way to go here. Superb dialogue and impeccable acting might push this Scorsese vehicle to Oscar glory. Will the Oscar arrive or will it depart? We wait with bated breath.
Infernally yours,
txq
(4/5)