Capturing and lifelike

Rating: 8/10 (5 October 2007)

The Departed tells about mob boss Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson with his trademark style, and two cops, played by Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. Both feel like excellent choices for their part. Matt Damon makes a chilling performance as a bad cop at Massachusetts State Police, who also happens to be a mole for Costello. DiCaprio is also very good as a member of Boston police. His family's bad name has had an effect on his career also, and he is eventually forced to start an undercover operation in Costello's gang. Rest of the cast is also full of big names, including Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin. The sheer quality of the actors is truly impressive.
Scorsese tells a story about loyalty, roots and morale. Cops and robbers are very similar, basically only difference being which side of the law they happen to be acting. It is also story about man's family, and how the echo of your name follows you through your life.
The suspense of the movies grows towards the end, and it seems obvious their faiths eventually become intertwined. However the rate people start to die right and left eventually put me down. It's not that they die, the motives and ambitions of the characters eventually come to conclusion and collide, but the way the deaths are made to seem like random collateral damage from some gang shooting. Maybe it is Scorsese's statement towards conventional story telling, maybe he's trying to break a mold, maybe it tells something about our age, I don't know.