Excellent - but not as good as Infernal Affairs - SPOILERS

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2006)

***** Contains Spoilers ******
The Departed takes the Hong Kong classic "Infernal Affairs" and moves it to Boston. Skipping yet another plot summary, I'll concentrate on strengths and weaknesses. The writing, directing, and acting is absolutely first rate. Scorscase has assembled a great cast. Unfortunately, Jack Nicholson ONCE AGAIN feels the need to do slapstick and face-muggings in many places where simple acting would have been better. Leo DiCaprio gives what may be his best performance to date - he's riveting as a man so deeply uncover that he's losing his way and losing his mind - thanks to the immense pressure he's under. Having said that, I must also say that Tony Leung's performance in the original was even better. Mr. Leung is probably the best actor in Asia and maybe anywhere. Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and others also do exceptional work.
My nit-pick is this: The thing that elevated "Infernal Affairs" to classic status was not only the intricate story (that is preserved in "Departed") but the emotional connection that the audience had with the main characters - even with subtitles. When Tony Leung's good cop went down, it was devastating. When Leo DiCaprio's good cop went down it too elicited gasps from the audience I was with. But it was immediately followed by several other shootings and by the end many audience members were engaging in nervous laughter at the over-the-top violence. There was so much violence in "Departed" that the each occurrence held very little meaning and very little emotion. In "Infernal Affairs" most of the violence evoked true feelings in the audience.
I highly recommend "Departed" - its an excellent film - but rent the "Infernal Affairs" DVD - and watch it with subtitles - the dubbed version is crap.