October 7th, 2006 by Brent
The Departed is an American remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film, Infernal Affairs. This version, takes place in Boston Massachusetts where a crime boss, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), controls the streets while the police struggle to bring him down. Matt Damon portrays Colin Sullivan, a young boy who grew up doing small jobs for Costello and joins the police department to help Costello stay one step ahead of the cops. Leonardo Dicaprio's character, Billy Costigan is used by the police to infiltrate Costello's mob. As the story unfolds, both men struggle to help their respective sides uncover the others identity and at the same time, protect their own.
This kind of story is nothing new for director Martin Scorsese, who has dealt with the gangs and mobs in such films as Gangs of New York, Casio, and Goodfellas. Here, he manages to mold the crazy plot into a story that we are able to easily follow with intense performances from all actors involved. Dicaprio especially stood out to me, but everyone here is just fantastic. I'm hesitant to say more, because I don't want to ruin the film, needless to say, there are a few twists and turns, nothing too outrageous, but it will keep you entertained.
There has been some talk that this may be the film that finally get's Scorsese his Oscar. Well, after seeing the film, I think he has a shot. This is one of my favorite movies of the year, check it out.
| Quick Review | |
|---|---|
| Plot/Storyline Intense story of two men undercover in the others organization, fighting to remain undetected and expose the other. |
9.5 |
| Acting/Characters A great cast and great performances all around. |
10 |
| Visuals/Sound There are some great uses of lighting in the movie and some very intense shots. Nice classic rock soundtrack. |
9 |
| Replay The performances and dialogue deserve to be watched a couple of times, even if you already know the outcome of the story. |
8 |
| Overall Rating: | 9.5 |
| All scores are out of 10. Overall score is not an average. | |
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October 11th, 2006 - 7:48 PM
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I have to agree this was a really good movie. I was uncertain going into the theater, but I came out a believer. Although, I would not rate this movie as one of my personal favorites of the year, I would agree with the commercials, "it is a must see movie."