I recorded The Departed when it was on TV a few months ago and this week I found the time to watch it, and I have to say I was massively impressed. The Departed, the only film for which Scorsese has won an Oscar, is set in Boston and begins with two newly minted cops - Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) who has family ties to the cities most dangerous gangster (Frank Costello played by Jack Nicholson), and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) who appears to be as pure as driven snow but turns out to be working for Costello. Costigan meanwhile is persuaded that he can best serve the police force by going deep undercover as a member of Costello's gang, feeding information back to the only two detectives who know who he is. As Sullivan works his way up the force's hierarchy Costigan becomes a more trusted member of the gang, but struggles with his own identity as he has to give in to the violent impulses within himself that he has worked hard to bury.
I never saw this at the cinema as I'm not a fan of gangster movies, or Scorsese, however I remembered everyone raving about it in 2006 when it won Scorsese the gong for Best Director. I now see what all the fuss was about. This isn't just about the usual violent action scenes and the intricate pattern of loyalties, betrayals, and family ties within criminal gangs. The story weaves together both sides - the law breakers and the law enforcers - and exposes the overlap between them. Sullivan appears to be the perfect cop but is utterly faithful to Costello and doesn't seem to have a moments doubt as to where his loyalties lie - Damon pulls off the role with panache, creating a complex character who may appear as smooth as silk on the surface but is obviously furiously treading water underneath. DiCaprio also shines as Costigan and this is further proof that he has escaped his pretty-boy image of the 90s forever. Costigan is a tortured soul who manages to break free of the criminal society he grew up in, only to be plunged back into it as an undercover cop. It's all too easy to see why Madolyn (the police psychiatrist that Sullivan is dating) falls for his mixture of vulnerability and determination.
Apart from these two there is also a powerhouse performance from Nicholson, who I'm not a huge fan of but whose idiosyncratic acting style and sense of humour somehow works to make Costello a bad guy who's at turns terrifying and hilarious. Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen are also very funny as Queenan and Dignam, providing light relief at the same time as being key players in that they are the only people who know that Costigan is undercover.
This film really has the whole package though - apart from the brilliant cast the story is clever and complex without being alienating, the script has moments of true genius and is peppered with enough profanity to surprise your granny, and the soundtrack also is very cleverly used, combining contemporary tracks with some surprisingly hard-hitting classical pieces. Despite being over two and a half hours long I didn't want to stop watching. Every part of the film is fascinating, hilarious, or wracked with tension - Scorsese has trimmed away any spare scenes or lines of dialogue to leave us with a film that far outstrips the rest of its genre (in my humble opinion) and enabled me to see why it is that Martin Scorsese is so revered as a director.
I LOVED this film - great review! You're so right about Leo. I also thought Mark Wahlberg was exceptional.
Posted by: Lindsey Davis | July 16, 2009 at 09:26 AM