Excellent Film!

Rating: 10/10 (9 April 2007)

2006's The Departed is an excellent film. I'm not normally a fan of gangster films and really had no intention of seeing this film. But my mom was dying to see it and so I watched it with her. And I'm a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio and seeing that Jack Nicholson was playing a mob boss I knew that it had to be a good film. And I was pleasantly surprised. It was worth the rental price at Blockbuster. Jack Nicholson plays mob boss Frank Costello, who's mole, Colin Sullivan, played by Matt Damon, is a cop who has just been promoted to a detective. But the police academy has no idea that he's Costello's mole. Leonardo DiCaprio is Billy Costigan, a recent graduate of the academy who has been hired to infiltrate the mob and bring Costello down. Mark Wahlberg is Dignam, a tough-talking cop who is working on the Costello case. His partner is Queenan, played by Martin Sheen. The plot gets a little complicated when all these characters cross paths in their attempts to catch Costello but it also is an exhilarating thrill to see who will find out who's the mole and who's the fake. This film kept me on the edge of my seat. There was so much tension that it was almost unbearable. The violence was a little graphic and anyone who doesn't like blood or doesn't like to see a lot of blood will feel a little uneasy watching this film. And anyone who doesn't like a lot of swearing and curse words will also feel uneasy. But The Departed wasn't just about blood and profanity. It gave you a look inside the mob and how ruthless and vile they can be. It showed you what can happen when secrets are revealed and when other people's trusts are broken. The most exciting scene for me was when Matt Damon found out that Leonardo DiCaprio was the one who was bringing down the mob and when Leo found out that Matt was the mole. Leo called Queenan's cell phone and Matt answered! That was such a tense moment and my whole family who was watching with me gasped. When I had rented this film the guy at Blockbuster told me that the ending was unbelievable. And boy was he right!
**SPOILERS!!!** Matt Damon comes home and when he opens his door he stops and is in shock. Mark Wahlberg, the cop, is standing there and he raises his gun and shoots Matt Damon dead. Then the film is over. And in a couple of scenes before that Leo had slept with Matt's girlfriend. And Leo gave her an envelope that said "if something happens to me, open it". And then Leo is killed by one of Costello's men. We see her open the envelope but never know what it said. So after the film ended my family and I are all wondering what was said in the envelope and then it came to us. Of course Leo knew that Matt was Costello's mole. So in the envelope he told her about Matt's real identity and that she should let Mark Wahlberg know and do something about it. So that's why Mark Wahlberg killed Matt so he would no longer be a part of the mob and be a threat to anyone. And we thought that was clever. An interesting little plot twist! :) I thought all the actors were top notch. Jack Nicholson never disappoints. He was his usual badass self and you knew something bad was gonna happen whenever he was on screen. Matt Damon was basically his usual self that he is in all his films. But he was good. Martin Sheen was great and I was very shocked to see him die. Mark Wahlberg was his usual badass cursing self too, and even though he did get an Oscar nomination, I didn't see what was so special about his performance that earned him that recognition. The real recognition should've gone to Leonardo DiCaprio!! To me his performance was the best in this film. He was basically the only likable character and he was good and you felt bad for him when you saw all these horrible things that were happening to him. And I was really disappointed when he met his demise. That was totally uncalled for!! I didn't see why he had to die. There were no weak performances in this film and I think that's what made it so great. And Martin Scorsese's direction was top notch too. He deserved that Oscar. And I'm glad this film won Best Picture too. It is an excellent film and I'm glad I saw it. It's definitely one I'd like to own. This is film making at its best! Thank you for reading my review! :) :) :)