Scorsese Back in Top Form with a Stunning Cast for an Unbelievably Taut Thriller

Rating: 9/10 (11 October 2006)

Filmmaker extraordinaire Martin Scorsese finally brings back the dazzling intensity of his earlier films such as "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas" with his latest offering, a driving Americanized update of the 2002 Hong Kong thriller, "Infernal Affairs". Adapted with intelligence by screenwriter William Monahan, the now Boston-based story focuses in parallel fashion on two young police detectives who are leading deceptive existences, one is sharing the department's goings-on with local mob boss Frank Costello, while the other is undercover inside Costello's organization and secretly informing the police of their plans. The informant is Colin Sullivan, who impresses his supervisors with his savvy and unfettered ambition. The other detective is coiled-to-the bone Billy Costigan recruited by Captain Queenan and his hot-headed assistant, Sgt. Dignam, to infiltrate Costello's gang.
Both detectives are loners in one way or the other because they are moles always looking over their shoulder lest they get caught and killed. The movie dexterously goes back and forth between the characters with the linchpins being not only Costello but also a department psychiatrist named Madolyn. She becomes Sullivan's girlfriend and also Costigan's doctor. As you can guess, the destinies of Costigan and Sullivan intertwine like a tightening vise but not without several interrelated story lines battling for our attention. One of the key reasons that this approach works so effectively is the kinetic, time-jumping editing by longtime Scorsese collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker, infusing Scorsese's masterful direction and the adept unraveling-by-necessity character development.
A stellar cast is in peak form here starting with Leonardo DiCaprio's riveting turn as Costigan. Under Scorsese's tutelage for the third time, he has finally matured into a role that capitalizes on his visceral intensity and delivers easily the best work I have seen him do. If Matt Damon's solid work is slightly less electrifying (with a vocal resemblance to the southie he played in "Good Will Hunting"), it's primarily because the character is designed to be unapologetically covert and a braggadocio to boot. Of course, Jack Nicholson is getting the lion's share of the media attention because he is back in a showy role as Costello. Whether making subtly threatening non-sequiturs to the hapless in his neighborhood or sharing Costello's path to success with his young cohorts, Nicholson blazes without resorting to the scenery chewing we have seen in past roles.
As Madolyn, indie darling Vera Farmiga brings an unexpectedly idiosyncratic quality to what could have been the standard girl-support stereotype, bringing not only vulnerability but a guarded sense of adventurousness to her character. In supporting roles, Martin Sheen is solid as Queenan, but it's the rapid-fire profanity spewing out of Marc Wahlberg as Dignam that remains more memorable. Ray Winstone brings his trademark menace to Costello's amusingly named henchman, Mr. French, and Alec Baldwin shines in the smallish role of department head Ellerby. It should come as no surprise that there are moments of shocking violence as the movie culminates into a series of scenes quite graphic in nature yet thematically resonant to the core story. Scorsese has thankfully let go of the wearying pretensions of his last two movies, "The Aviator" and "Gangs of New York", to produce an incredibly taut, character-driven police thriller. It's aces for this kind of work.