Unbelievable film

Rating: 9/10 (11 October 2006)

The Departed was one of the best movies I've seen in awhile. The characters, including the minor roles, were spectacular an humorous. The story itself was well done and for a movie over two hours long, it sure wasn't boring.
Martin Scorsese is one of the premiere directors of his generation. He helped make Robert DeNiro one of the greatest movie actors ever, and with the Departed he shows that he still has what it takes to make a clever movie. With movies like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Mean Streets to his credit, The Departed fits rather well in that great selection of movies.
The plot is not real complex. Jack Nicholson plays Frank Costello, the leader of the Irish Mafia in Boston. The police department is trying to find hard evidence on him so they can finally arrest him. They use a spy of their own named Billy Costigan(Lenardo DeCaprio) to try and get the information they need too finally catch the man. However unknown to the police department, Costello has his own mole planted in the FBI. His name is Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), and he always lets Costello know what's going down before the police can ever catch him. This cat and mouse game is played throughout the entire movie and has the audience wondering how both characters, Costigan, and Sullivan, are going to manage this all without being caught themselves.
This all leads to a violent conclusion which had everybody in shock. Some people were disappointed and some were just plain surprised. I was one of those that was surprised by what went down because it happens so quickly that the audience of the film has no time to react. The final scene on the other hand is somewhat predictable and that alone is probably the only weakness of this film.
Overall this film is probably one of the best I've seen all year. All the characters were great, even the minor ones. Mark Wahlberg in particular has a hilarious role, and I mean that in a good way. Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin were also very good as was Vera Farmiga who plays a clinic psychologist for the police department. Very well made movie and worth the ticket price.