David Jeffers for SIFFblog.com

Rating: 8/10 (10 October 2006)

"Who the #&%* are you?"
"I'm the guy who does his job. Who are you?"
How often have moviegoers observed that "So-and-so hasn't made a decent film in years " How often has that observation been true? Given this consideration, Martin Scorsese's latest film The Departed is an astonishing surprise. It is every bit the equal of his greatest triumphs. His portrait of Boston's Irish Mob, with its mix of loyalty, deception and underlying legacy, is told with a breathtaking visual narrative of explosive violence and its consequences, in the compelling style Scorsese is famous for. At its heart, The Departed is Jack Nicholson's film. He dominates the screen as the personification of willful menace and pure evil. The remaining cast rivals any Scorsese ensemble, with career defining performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Ray Winstone. With an unforgettable screenplay and a well-balanced score featuring everything from The Rolling Stones, to Patsy Cline and La Traviata, The Departed fulfills the promise seen in Scorsese's earliest work.