Two South Boston cops from the same graduating class take very different career paths.

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 2015)

Two South Boston cops from the same graduating class take very different career paths. Billy Costigan, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, goes undercover to infiltrate a ruthless gang that not only terrorizes the neighborhood businesses, but also deals in trading U.S. military technology to foreign enemies. While his classmate, Colin Sullivan, played by Matt Damon, serves as a mole in the police department for the same gang Billy is infiltrating. The leader of this gang, Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson, is a ruthless killer and has a very disturbed mind; he will stop at nothing to protect his enterprise. Captain Queenan and Detective Sergeant Dignam, played by Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg respectively, are Billy's handlers and do everything they can to bring Frank down.
This film focuses on the plot; all events leading up to the final scene have everything to do with the story being told. If one looks deeper into the individual characters, struggle for human dignity can be found in both Costigan and Sullivan. Costigan wants nothing more than to do the right thing, but that becomes more and more difficult for him as the story unfolds and he becomes more entrenched in the gang and further separated from his handlers. Sullivan starts out doing what is best for him and Costello, but in certain scenes, such as when he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, he mentions moving away and getting a fresh start; there is just a hint of him wanting to start over and stop being the bad guy.
There is a lot of arguing, fighting, shooting, and noise in the film. This seems to represent the chaos and struggle between the good guys and the bad guys. The music, at times, is so loud you find yourself getting tense in anticipation of what is going to happen next. The lighting in the film enhances the mood of the scenes. When Costigan is with the gang, they are usually in a bar or under cover of night, so the lighting is dark; a perfect example of this is the cranberry juice scene. On the flip side, when Costigan is with Queenan and Dignam or his therapist, Madolyn, played by Vera Farmiga, the lighting is much brighter and the scenes much more clear. Interestingly enough, it is in the brighter scenes that Costigan seems to struggle most with doing the right thing.
This film is reminiscent of "Donnie Brasco" in theme. An undercover agent struggling to keep his identity and his humanity; starring Johnny Depp as Donnie Brasco, and Al Pacino as the mobster, Benjamin 'Lefty' Ruggiero, this film also focuses on story with a splash of the struggle for humanity. And, much like the Departed, the lighting, along with the music, enhances the scenes and the viewer's mood. As both of these movies were box office hits, one can only imagine that there will be many more mob versus undercover cop films in our future.
References
Newell, M. (Director). (1997). Donnie Brasco (Motion picture on DVD). United States: TriStar Pictures.
Petrie, D., & Boggs, J. (2012). The art of watching films (8th ed., pp. 155-189, 219-247) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Scorsese, M. (Director). (2006). The departed (Motion picture on DVD). United States: Warner Home Video Inc.