The Departed

Rating: 9/10 (30 June 2013)

Scorsese returns to his old form in "Goodfellas" and Mean Streets" with this tense thriller, about two men who are both moles for the police and mafia, respectively and how their lives crisscross. There is a duality to these characters, they are at once opposite and the same, but working on different ends of the spectrum. This is what creates the tension of the film, not to mention the brutal depictions of mob violence and ethnic nationalism. Scorsese embodies a modern crime thriller here, but explores the same themes of his previous films, such as isolation, redemption, and betrayal. It's exciting and morally relevant, a power punch of a thriller boosted by fine performances from DiCaprio and Nicholson especially.