Outstanding...until the end

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2007)

WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS I was at the edge of my seat, feeling sentiment for all characters, until everyone died in the end (almost everyone). The acting was incredible all around from main to minor roles. The screenplay was excellent. The plot was very dynamic. After reading several reviews, I was unsure why many comments compared the movie to Internal Affairs. In Internal Affairs, Garcia's character knew the entire movie that Richard Gere was the crooked cop. In this movie, DiCaprio had no idea who the was the crooked cop. The movie seemed to me more like Donny Brosco. DiCaprio's character experienced the same anxiety as Johnny Depp, both as undercover police officers inside the mob. The different angle for Departed, was that the mafia had an inside man penetrating the police.
Half way through the movie I thought to myself that was one of the best movies I have ever seen. Then everyone in the end got shot in the head...in succession. It became so ridiculous during the elevator scene, laughter rang out through out the theater, and my wife shouted, "This is stupid." There could have been several better endings, either the "good guys" or "bad guys" winning. Such as Damon killing DiCaprio, and then Wahlburg finding the tape recordings on his desk. Something to leave you thinking, rather than the simple ending: kill everyone.
Despite the ending, a wonderful movie worth watching at least twice. It ranks among the great mafia movies after Godfather I, Good Fellas, Casino, and Donnie Brasco.