A remarkable remake; Scorsese's return to the mafioso genre

Rating: 9/10 (10 August 2013)

'The Departed' focuses on two characters: Billy Costigan (Leo DiCaprio), an undercover cop in the Boston Irish-American organized crime, and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), an undercover criminal in the Boston police department. As their actions intensify and they rise in position in their hidden roles, a hunt begins on both the police and the mafia to find the moles.
The remake of the already excellent Hong Kong crime thriller 'Infernal Affairs' makes use of director Martin Scorsese's legendary aptitude for gangster films, relocating the story in order to reference the Boston organized crime scene. While still not as good as his masterpieces of the genre, like 'Goodfellas' and 'Casino', 'The Departed' is far from a stain on his filmography.
As usual, the dialogue is good and flows in a very natural (and aggressive) way. The characters, likewise, are very interesting and well represented.
Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon feel a lot more mature here. I still can't shake off the image they constructed by playing cheesy, lame pretty boys (and, in Damon's case, troubled lame pretty boys) in films such as 'Titanic', 'Romeo+Juliet', 'Good Will Hunting' or 'Rounders'. It takes a director of Scorsese's caliber to put them in line, and it shows. Both of them give excellent performances, and for the first time ever I sympathized with a DiCaprio character.
The supporting cast is also top-notch, in special Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone and Jack Nicholson; possibly his best casting choice since he last cast Robert De Niro. Possibly the weakest link of the movie, Mark Wahlberg had a bad tendency to overact at times.
On the other hand, the love triangle subplot involving Vera Farmiga's character was totally unnecessary and just a waste of time; likewise, the Costello twist also served little to no purpose other than confuse the slower viewer. The cinematography, while not bad, feels too artificial (a common occurrence in his recent films) and does not convey the level of realism Scorsese's gangster films usually have.
While not on the same level as his masterpieces, most likely thanks to his recent venture into larger scale works ('Gangs of New York', 'The Aviator'), 'The Departed' is Scorsese's best film in over a decade of mediocrities and a great entry in the gangster genre. Now, if he only kept doing mafia and casting high-level actors such as Nicholson and De Niro...