The Departed
The Departed is a movie about… Gangsters… Cops and most of all RATS!!! Big fat hairy (insert Jack Nicholson doing a rat impression here… yes he actually does one) RATS! Without giving anything away I must say that Scorsese did this movie for the boys. The shining stars of Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen lit up the screen for this one.
Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), a notorious Irish gangster, runs the underworld of Boston with an iron fist. The Italians try but cannot infiltrate his territory and the same can be said about the FBI and law enforcement. In order to get to Frank, the authorities recruit an unlikely individual to play along with the violence and theft, and infiltrate the world of Costello. As daunting a task as this may be, the infiltrator soon finds out that the game of cat and mouse usually has more than it’s fair share of double agent, backbiting mice.
This was a pretty good movie, not the best i’ve seen, as far as standing up to a Godfather or a Casino but it was pretty good. My only gripe was the random intro showcasing the racist history of Boston, which never played out to being very relative to the movie at all. In any event, it was good to see Jack doing his thing on the big screen again and he steals the show with that charisma he is known for, coupled with A+ acting all the way. Mark Wahlberg almost steals the spot for popularity in this film, playing a true ass of a cop and causing much laughter between myself and friends but Jack’s portrayal of Frank Costello was second to none.
Every Oscar I beg for Scorcese to get his just dues but I have no idea which stiff he pissed off to prevent it… not saying that this is his best film but if they needed an escuse to toss him a bone, this one wouldn’t hurt. Go check it out people, it can easily become a classic. Light on the T&A but heavy on the blood and guts… know what I mean?
STAR RATING: (9/10) ★★★★★★★★★★
Filed under Crime, Drama, Thriller · Tagged with alec baldwin, jack nicholson, leonardo dicaprio, mark wahlberg, martin scorsese, martin sheen, matt damon
