Its no Goodfellas, but it will keep you entertained.

Rating: 8/10 (1 November 2010)

Thankfully Martin Scorcese returned to the contemporary street crime genre in 2006 after some showy epics like Gangs of New York and The Aviator that sort of disappointed. You couldn't ask for a better cast in this fast-moving tale of the Boston underworld and those intending to take it down or keep it going in perpetuity. The primary characters are Matt Damon as a corrupt MA State Police big shot who has acts as an inside man for a ruthless gangster (Jack Nicholson), and Leonardo Di Capprio as an undercover cop working in Nicholson's street crew. Damon tips Nicholson off about the cops' every move, and DiCapprio keeps the police up on the gang's dealings. The plot isn't difficult to follow, and most of the action is punctuated by gunfire and cell phone usage. Though it isn't a high tech thriller, it depends on our current wireless technology and telecommunication laws.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of from the countless police big shots to the scores of low-level street thugs. Also both primary characters are romancing the same psychologist. There is a lot of inter-lapping between good and bad. And most of the people are either flawed or the complete personification of evil. Nicholson's Frank Costello character is perhaps too evil to be taken seriously. Apparently he was allowed to improvise some of the more bizarre behavior we see on camera. If anything, Nicholson physically looks like actor Rip Torn in any of his recent mugshots. The acting is uniformly excellent, with some of the older characters shinning in their smaller roles. Honestly, have either Alec Baldwin or Martin Sheen even been more believable? Damon has grown into quite a talented actor. Dicapprio has been worse, but one still has to wonder why Scorcese won't make a movie without the guy anymore. The only major weakness is with the plotting. We never really do get a true feeling for Dicapprio's motivation. Why does he agree so readily to put himself at such a risk going undercover in Nicholson's gang? Is it to honor his dead father who was the only honest man in the old neighborhood? Or was it for a handsome tax-free payday? Did we ever learn how much he was getting paid? Even with a head shrinker assigned to him, we still never learn that much about the guy. Anyway, this film is too entertaining to let a couple of plot holes (including a ludicrously violent last five minutes) bog it down. It is thoroughly entertaining, and you will probably love every minute of it. 8 of 10 stars.
The Hound.