Scorsese returns to the house he built--- 8/10

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2006)

A few years back i was worrying about the state of the gangster movie. There were tries. Some people did an okay job, some made laughable attempts to emulate classics like the Goodfellas and Scarface. I started to think that with the Sopranos knocking all mafia-esquire stories out of the park, the classic gangster movie may be dead.
Now, the man that helmed some of the greatest gangster movies of all time, Martin Scorsese, returns and adds a cop movie twist. The Departed is loosely based on the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, which was a decent thriller with great performances. The Departed however is a great thriller, with amazing performances, all directed by a master of the medium.
The Departed follows two moles; one a cop in the Irish mob, and the other an Irish mobster with cops. Both answer to Frank Costello and Oliver Queenan, the mob boss and the head state trooper, respectively. As each find out about each other, they enter a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse as they race along the body littered streets to blow each others covers. Now, i know it sounded like the back cover of the latest Wesley Snipes movie, but The Departed is a gripping, exciting, and star-studded epic.
The most instantly appealing part of the film is the amazing ensemble cast that includes Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nichcolson, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, and Martin Sheen. They all do an amazing job but never though i would say this; I officially forgive Dicaprio for his crimes against cinema. While Jack steals the show of course, Leo turns in an incredible performance, becoming the character you actually care about the most. His intentions are well, but the act of betrayal is wrong and has consequences no matter what, and thats what Leo brought to the table. Matt Damon handles his rare bad guy role really well, and Jack Nicholson rivals Joe Pesci in Goodfellas for being both hilarious and terrifying.
Martin Scorsese knows how to use his cast to tell the story in the best way possible. This story, at it's core a straight-forward thriller plot, could have been handled by any director and made a good movie that you would forget in a few hours. Scorsese, however, puts the characters first, haunts you with their mentalities and their ultimate fates, and creates an unforgettable film. Welcome back, Marty. 8/10