Masterpiece!

Rating: 10/10 (9 October 2006)

I don't get it... How did Martin Scorsese manage to make this movie so great? Well, more or less, everything was at least close to perfect. Somehow, Scorsese figured out a way to combine violence and humor in a way that is anything but cheesy. And that's only one of the incredible accomplishments of The Departed.
Above all else, the characters are so well developed and so likable that even if the plot was awful, I'd still watch this movie. You're looking at a diverse set of characters, who all have some little thing about them that makes it impossible not to find them interesting. I couldn't believe it! And then, you have the plot. Just what you might expect, there are a good many peaks and troughs of action in this movie. But the whole time you're wondering how it's going to end, which makes it possible to avoid the ever-so-cheesy extreme plot twist, while still keeping the audience guessing. And as complex this movie is, everything comes to its neat little conclusion at the end, and there isn't a single question that hasn't been left open beyond necessity. Well done, Scorsese!