Brilliant Adaptation, Departed is a Standout in its Own Right

Rating: 10/10 (7 October 2006)

Martin Scorsese has been very consistent thus far, what with Gangs of New York and The Aviator both having gotten such great critical reviews and Oscar nominations. But with The Departed, he has hit his critical mass, and I look forward to seeing Oscar time when the stars and director get their recognition. The Departed is based on the original Hong Kong film by Andrew Lau, Infernal Affairs, which starred Andy Lau and Tony Leung in the original roles that are played here by Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio (respectively) in equally, if not beyond, excellent performances. Damon and DiCaprio both play undercover cops in the Boston Police who work to infiltrate a dangerous, vicious, and insane mob boss who has control of the South Boston crime section, played with wicked and equally humorous (at least to him) skill by Jack Nicholson. However, Damon's character, Colin Sullivan, is a supposed perfect cop who in fact is a mole planted by Nicholson's mob boss character, Frank Costello, and quickly works up the ranks. DiCaprio's character, Billy Costigan, finds himself kicked out of the academy and instead working as Frank's right hand man. But everything's for a reason, and Costigan's no different: he's a undercover agent himself, his identity known only to Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Dignam (Mark Wahlberg). That's as far as I go in terms of the story, which I give immense kudos to William Monaghan. The shortcomings of the original, though the best Hong Kong film I'd ever seen, was that it was far too complicated and complex. What Monaghan has written here is one that is straight to the point and gripping as well. The strong helping factor to this whole thing is, of course, the directing, in which Scorsese hits his high mark, and the performances by a massive, unbelievable cast. Damon and DiCaprio are great here, the latter in his best performance yet. Martin Sheen plays a great role as Queenan, an essential character in maintaining Costigan's sense of who he is. Of course the high marks go to Wahlberg, whose vulgar and sarcastic Digham is a scene stealer. But Nicholson's Frank Costello is one in a million. Nicholson goes completely over-the-top here, to the point that if he'd gone any further it would've been overkill. Costello is vicious and evil to the core, and yet he finds something funny about the whole thing nonetheless. Whereas the original villain in Infernal Affairs was minor, sometimes humorous at times, Costello is the main focus here, a perverse character who has killed and deceived so much it becomes almost mundane to him, and Nicholson savors every moment of it. This is the best film I've seen so far, and it deserves every Oscar nomination and win that it gets.