The Departed [Blu-ray]

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Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Binding: Blu-ray
Published: 2007-02-13

$22.95

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DVD-Video

The Departed [Blu-ray]

Editorial Review:

Rookie cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) grew up in crime. That makes him the perfect mole, the man on the inside of the mob run by boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). It's his job to win Costello's trust and help his detective handlers (Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen) bring Costello down. Meanwhile, SIU officer Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) has everyone's trust. No one suspects he's Costello's mole. How these covert lives cross, double-cross and collide is at the ferocious core of the widely acclaimed The Departed. Martin Scorsese directs, guiding a cast for the ages in a visceral tale of crime and consequences. This is searing, can't-look-away filmmaking: like staring into the eyes of a con - or a cop - with a gun.
Martin Scorsese makes a welcome return to the mean streets (of Boston, in this case) with The Departed, hailed by many as Scorsese's best film since Casino. Since this crackling crime thriller is essentially a Scorsese-stamped remake of the acclaimed 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, the film was intensely scrutinized by devoted critics and cinephiles, and while Scorsese's intense filmmaking and all-star cast deserve ample acclaim, The Departed is also worthy of serious re-assessment, especially with regard to what some attentive viewers described as sloppy craftsmanship (!), notably in terms of mismatched shots and jagged continuity. But no matter where you fall on the Scorsese appreciation scale, there's no denying that The Departed is a signature piece of work from one of America's finest directors, designed for maximum impact with a breathtaking series of twists, turns, and violent surprises. It's an intricate cat-and-mouse game, but this time the cat and mouse are both moles: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is an ambitious cop on the rise, planted in the Boston police force by criminal kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hot-tempered police cadet who's been artificially disgraced and then planted into Costello's crime operation as a seemingly trustworthy soldier. As the multilayered plot unfolds (courtesy of a scorching adaptation by Kingdom of Heaven screenwriter William Monahan), Costigan and Sullivan conduct a volatile search for each other (they're essentially looking for "themselves") while simultaneously wooing the psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga) assigned to treat their crime-driven anxieties.
Such convenient coincidences might sink a lesser film, but The Departed is so electrifying that you barely notice the plot-holes. And while Nicholson's profane swagger is too much "Jack" and not enough "Costello," he's still a joy to watch, especially in a film that's additionally energized by memorable (and frequently hilarious) supporting roles for Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a host of other big-name performers. The Departed also makes clever and plot-dependent use of cell-phones, to the extent that it couldn't exist without them. Powered by Scorsese's trademark use of well-chosen soundtrack songs (from vintage rock to Puccini's operas), The Departed may not be perfect, but it's one helluva ride for moviegoers, proving popular enough to become the biggest box-office hit of Scorsese's commercially rocky career. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Waited almost 2 years to see this--It lived up to the hype:

This movie is not light and airy and fun. It is intense, violent and masterfully told. "The Departed" is not generally my type of movie, but it was well done.
Here's what I liked: 1) the plot was not predictable (even for someone who usually foresees the end in the first 5 minutes of a movie), 2) Leonardo di Caprio was amazing, 3) Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson were great, 3) there were several twists.
My only criticism might be that Mark Wahlberg was a little over the top. Then again, his... more info

Big fat rats feeding on the cheese:

This one is a real in and out of dirty cops and undercover cops
fighting it out in a poker hand, hide and seek
with death as the hole card.
The acting and script are the best I have seen of this sort
and there have been a whole lot of these dirty cop movies.
The gangsters are winning as this movie starts.
The inside man is a young fellow who is ambitious for higher things.
The undercover cop should have thought twice before taking the assignment...
I really... more info

Infernal Affairs indeed.:

The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
One of the things I was really, really hoping would happen with Martin Scorsese's remake of the fantastic Asian film Infernal Affairs would be that Scorsese would try to make the film a little less confusing during the opening half-hour or so, when we have very little experience with these characters and are still liable to get them easily confused. Nope. If anything, The Departed's opening half-hour is even more confusing than that of Infernal Affairs, and I didn't... more info

Crime Drama that is a wild ride from beginning to end:

I picked up this film primarily because of the fact that one of my favorite actors (Jack Nicholson - Frank Costello) has a starring role in it. For his acting the the movie, I surely was not disappointed. The Departed is a film with Mind-blowing plot variations and shocking revelations which culminates in a violent and stunning end.
Leonardo DiCaprio (Billy Costigan) and Matt Damon (Colin Sullivan) are both in very interesting roles, seemingly polar opposites, who actually have more in common than they... more info

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