A Gangland Masterpiece for the 21st Century

Rating: 10/10 (7 December 2014)

The Departed is one of the best cop movies I've ever seen, and one of the best gangster movies I've ever seen. I cannot remember any movie that has kept me more on edge and for a longer period of time than this film. Even now, writing this, my nerves are shot, and not just because it's finals week.
The situation is that the Massachusetts State Police are finally closing in on Boston's top gangster, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). They've finally gotten an undercover officer (Leonardo Dicaprio) into his gang. But Costello's got a mole of his own (Matt Damon) in the department. And both sides realize they've been infiltrated. So like the best spy thriller, it becomes a race by the two sides to find the rat in their midst. And the stakes are life and death.
There are so many close calls in this movie that it's just unbelievable. There are so many times when Damon and Dicaprio almost get a bead on each other, so many times that doing their job requires them to come within a hair's breadth of blowing their cover, so many conversations where we're thinking "This is it, the hammer's gonna drop." There's a million ways either man could get found out, and no margin for error. The result is more tension and suspense than any movie since High Noon. In that movie you knew nothing was going to go down until the end. There's no such guarantee here, and it's absolutely nerve wracking.
And none of it would work if the actors weren't absolutely on top of their game. DiCaprio has never been more physical or more on edge than he is here. As Billy Costigan, he's wound up tighter than a watch spring, likely to explode at any moment, verbally if you're lucky, physically if you're not. If you look closely enough, you can tell it's an act, but one that's being put on for the gangsters, not us. He radiates stress and an increasing aura of dread. He knows that he can't stay undercover forever, and it's absolutely driving him up the wall. He's got to let off steam, and if it adds to his cover as a loose cannon, all the better.
In contrast, Damon's character is much smoother and under control. He's in a role that he's been playing his entire life. And he's in a position from which he can turn attention to anyone but himself. But under the front of calm professionalism, the tension is always there. Because it's not just the police he has to worry about, if he doesn't deliver, he has to deal with Costello. And Costello is a man you don't want to deal with. Ruthless, amoral, borderline psychotic, and with a massive entitlement complex, he's the archetype of the Boston gangster. He's as smart as they come and surprisingly charming for a scumbag, and no-one could have played him better than Nicholson.
As with any of Scorsese's gangster films, there's a powerful atmosphere to The Departed, one of danger, corruption, and decay. Graphic violence and language are everywhere. Costello and his crew whack people for the most trivial of reasons, then dump their bodies as nonchalantly as if they were taking out the trash. Cops and criminals alike drop F-bombs like they're paid to say it. Crumbling brownstones, smoke filled bars, and the grim expressions of the locals paint a world where life is cheap, every road is a dead end, and the law is just a bunch of big words. This is the closest to the Boston projects most of us will ever want to come.
The Departed is what every thriller hopes to be. It's smart as it is intense, it has great shoot-outs, it maintains an incredible level of suspense, and it keeps you guessing with unexpected twists. It's the mark of a great director to consistently put out great movies decade after decade, and this is one of Scorsese's greatest.