For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.
(Photo by Andrew Cooper. © 2006 Warner Bros. Pictures, all rights reserved.)
HEADS UP BOSS: Costello (Jack Nicholson, left) listens intently as his mole in the Boston Police Department, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) provides him with vital information about the police department's next steps to put Costello's mob out of business. |
Massachusetts State Trooper Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is masquerading as an ex-con in order to infiltrate a South Boston (Southie) crime family run by mobster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Meanwhile, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a mole, has penetrated the police department, climbing the ranks until he gains access to the plans of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), thereby enabling Costello to keep one step ahead of the law.
Initially unaware of each other's existence, Costigan and Sullivan, both native sons of Southie, operate inside some of the same circles, frequently coming close to crossing paths. The tension mounts as the police and the crooks gradually become aware that their movements are being telegraphed to the other side. Costigan and Sullivan find themselves caught in a life and death race to expose and eliminate the other first.
They unknowingly share a romantic interest in Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), a psychiatrist who specializes in counseling cops. She's dating Colin, ignorant of his allegiance to the Mafia; and also seeing Billy as a patient, keeping his confidences as he vents about the rigors of leading a double life.
This game of cops and robbers is the plot for The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese. The gangster film is actually a remake of Infernal Affairs (2002), the first of a trilogy created by Hong Kong's Siu Fai Mak.
The mystery movie features a plethora of peripheral characters lurking in the shadows. For instance, there's Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), Costigan's only contacts in the department; and then there's Chief Ellerby (Alec Baldwin), Sullivan's suspicious boss at SIU, and his colleague Officer Brown (Anthony Anderson).
On the mob's side, we find a mix of characters, most notably, Mr. French (Ray Winstone), Costello's henchman.
Relying on an intricate, absorbing script which cleverly conceals its lurid twists, The Departed unfolds at a breakaway pace. Tautly edited to maximize tension, this movie might be considered a cinematic masterpiece, were it not for the emotionally numbing bloodbath it unfortunately becomes.
Despite the Damon DiCaprio cat-and-mouse maneuvers, it is Jack Nicholson's jaunty Costello who steals the show, humoring a roomful of mobsters one minute, and exacting retribution the next. DiCaprio is second best, delivering the most spellbinding performance of his career as a terribly tormented soul who has lost his sense of self.
A masterpiece marred unnecessarily by gratuitous gore.
Very good (3 stars). Rated R for pervasive profanity, ethnic slurs, drug use, frank sexuality, and gruesome violence. Running time: 149 minutes. Studio: Warner Brothers.
For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.