Confusing

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2006)

First we start off with Colin Sullivan(Matt Damon) who is taken under the wing of Costello(Jack Nicholson)- some mafia/gang boss in Boston - as a young boy. Costello grooms him to be one of his many pawns. Colin keeps a straight stand up record and ends up becoming a chief detective in the "statees" and also a rat to report to Costello.
Next there is Billy Costigan. He is violent and definitely has a lot of emotions... look at him the wrong way and he is likely to kick the crap out of you. He has gone to the same military school as Colin except he was booted out. He tries to apply to the same office as Colin except they tell him he will never be a "statee". Instead he is asked to go back into jail for what I can assume was to mess up his record even more. He then becomes part of Costello's gang as an undercover agent. The only people who know he is working for the police is Dignam(Mark Wahlberg) and Queenam(Martin Sheen).
Dignam is an ornery cuss that isn't afraid of anyone and certainly isn't tactful about the way he feels about you. You will hate him and love him at the same time. Mark Wahlberg was absolutely spectacular in this role.
Colin and Billy are both rats for the opposing team and things get quite hectic when every time a lead is found one of the rats cancels it out.
Turning point in the movie - Costello himself is an FBI informant. At this point I am thinking .... WHAT? This is the mafia boss... he is the one calling the shots... and he is also working for the FBI? How is this possible.
I think that Colin got a raw deal even if he was the bad guy because I doubt he would have turned out the way he did unless Costello perverted his mind. Costello can't be given all the credit but he certainly helped a lot. He took the place of a father for a young boy living with his grandmother and polluted his brain.
With all the lying, confusion, and deception it is no wonder that murder becomes the only solution.
I recommend this to anyone who might have a fondness for movies like "Good Fellas". There is a lot of killing... but in the end there is really no point.