Noteworthy Cast! **some spoilers**

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2006)

This film was rather impressive. Plenty of action, intriguing characters, and brilliant acting from an all-star cast. I feel that the violence could have been toned down a bit-the swearing and racial epithets could have been kept to a minimum. Other than that it was brilliant. Scorcese outdoes himself with this mob vs. cops drama that makes us keep wondering whoif anyone at allis one of the "good guys".
Jack Nicholson delivers a punch with his over-the-top performance as Irish mob boss Costello. He's a self-indulgent, arrogant, domineering control freak who rules his neighborhood with an iron fist. It even seems as if Costello has the Boston State Police Departmentever on his trailunder his thumb. This is mostly thanks to a Detective named Collin Sullivan (Matt Damon) who began working for Costello when he was a young kid, and is forever indebted to Costello. Working both sides of the coin, in secrecy, Sullivan helps to keep Costello one step ahead of the "Staties" that are hot on his trail.
The Staties have a mole of their own. Young renegade officer Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is sent in to infiltrate Costello's gang, under orders from his superiors (Baldwin, Sheen, & Walberg respectively). With some felons in Costigan's family tree, and the rumor that Costigan was thrown out of the academy, he receives acceptance from Costello's men. But soon he meets the man himself, and his loyalty is tested by undergoing a small yet painful ritual.
The story heats up, with more action, a lot of shooting, and a rather confusing love triangle involving a young psychiatrist who is forced to face too many truths all at once. Nicholson's portrayal becomes increasingly more manicalmost resembling his performance in The Shiningas his organization begins to unravel and turn on each other in search of the "rat." However, many scenes were stolen by Mark Wahlberg as Dingam.
The plot gets confusing at times, and the ending will seem like a cop out (no pun intended), but it's the sort of thing that if you look at the events that led up to itit seems to have followed a logical conclusion. Who really is a rat? And who real are the good guys?
Very well-acted, and intriguing picture. I give this an 8/10.