A departure from reality

Rating: 7/10 (23 October 2006)

''The Departed'' has been hailed as an emphatic return to form for uberdirector Martin Scorsese, and while it does contain moments of customary vividness and verve ( the music score alone is worth the cost of admission), ultimately, when set against its closest predecessor,"Goodfellas", it fails to convince as an authentic tale of gritty gangsterism, which is a shame as the film manages to evoke a credible sense of how easily the lines between good and evil become blurred.
The convoluted plot revolves around two rookie cops from the same underbelly of Boston. One of the new recruits, Billy Costigan (poignantly played by Leonardo DiCaprio), beset by rumours questioning his loyalty to the force, is coaxed and coerced by his superiors (Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg reviving the old good cop/bad cop routine to maximum dramatic effect) into infiltrating an Irish-American mob empire run by the slippery and elusive Frank Costello (a memorably malevolent, albeit hammy turn by Jack Nichoson; an X-rated combination of Jack Napier and the Joker - but one that, regrettably, for his character is purportedly based on a real life Boston crime lord, thrills rather than chills).
The other new recruit, Colin Sullivan ( played with detached ruthlessness by Matt Damon), groomed from an early age by Frank Costello, rapidly gains promotion to a prominent position in the Special Investigations Unit hell-bent on bringing his shadowy mentor to justice; and to further complicate matters, his boss ( a bellicose yet comical Alec Baldwin), painfully aware that his own team has been infiltrated by a Costello mole, charges Sullivan - irony of ironies - with sole responsibility for flushing out the guilty party - himself!
This elaborate set-up - never, for one moment, does it feel real or ring true - certainly grips the attention, dragging the viewer headlong on a rollicking roller-coaster ride of a movie; but it does have an unmistakably ersatz quality to it: yes, the performances, with the possible exception of Nicholson's ill-judged grandstanding (don't rule out another Oscar nomination!) are uniformly strong and moving; yes, the screenplay, though it does suddenly, and violently, lurch from earnest realism to campy grand guignol, is riveting; and yes, Scorsese's kinetic direction, coming after his turgid Howard Hughes bio, is a sight to behold; nevertheless - and this has nothing to do with the fact the film is roughly based on a popular Hong Kong actioner/thriller - ''The Departed'' never manages to convince as anything other than an amalgamation of other, more illustrious gangster flicks. And none of them had such a weak ending.
After every new Martin Scorsese release, a single, hopeful/doleful question is asked: is this the one that breaks his Oscar duck? Well, as anyone with even the tiniest knowledge of the arcane Academy Awards voting system will tell you, the best nominees don't necessarily get to waltz down the star-studded aisle to the podium, gush sentimental thank-yous to all and sundry, and finally bag the gold statuette. Devoted Martin Scorsese fans - and I, for one, count myself amongst their legion - must pray that this perplexing pattern continues.