An impressive remake of the Hong Kong film trilogy 'Infernal Affairs'

Rating: 9/10 (6 July 2016)

Set in Boston this film follows two men who go deep undercover; a rookie Massachusetts State Trooper, Billy Costigan, who is placed within Francis "Frank" Costello's Irish mob and Colin Sullivan, a member of Costello's organisation who entered the State Police so he could feed information back to Costello. Neither man knows the other's identity but they both know that there are moles and that they could be exposed at any time. As time passes Costello gets more and more paranoid about the identity of the mole in his organisation.
The basic plot of this film isn't that complicated but the story is still gripping. There is a constant threat that Costigan could be exposed and killed which keeps the tension high. This is emphasised by the fact that we are shown what happens to anybody who crosses Costigan. The cast is full of well-known stars but doesn't feel like a typical 'all-star' production; we get good solid characters. Most notable amongst the cast are Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon who play Costigan and Sullivan respectively. There is also an impressive performance as Costello as well as fine performances from the likes of Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga and Alec Baldwin. As one would expect from a Martin Scorsese gangster film there is a fair amount of violence but it isn't gratuitous, not is it dwelt on excessively. The only real weak spot of the story was the romance between Sullivan and police psychiatrist Dr. Madolyn Madden who goes on to have an affair with Costigan; a little unlikely given that the latter was her patient. Overall though I thought this was an impressive film; fans of gangster and police films should enjoy it.