Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Written by: William Monahan, Felix Chong, Alan Mak
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen
Distributor: Warner Bros
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Thriller, Crime/Gangster, Remake
Rating: R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material.
Running Time: 149 min
/Film Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Have you ever seen a movie that was so incredible that you left the theater depressed that it was over?

Martin Scorsese's The Departed is two and a half hours of non stop edge of your seat suspense. It's his best film since Goodfellas.

"Do you want to be a cop or do you want to appear to be a cop?"

In South Boston, the Massachusetts state police are waging war on Irish-American organized crime. They convince Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) to go undercover to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy is able to quickly gain Costello's confidence, but there is a rat in the police department. Colin Sullivan's (Matt Damon) immaculate record leads him to a promotion to the Special Investigation Unit.

Both of the men become deeply consumed by their double lives, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations they have penetrated. And it slowly becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there's a mole in their midst. Both of the men are not allowed access to the respective list of undercovers. While Costello starts to suspect that Costigan is a snitch, Sullivan is assigned to (essentially) find himself, to uncover which police agent is a double agent.

I come from a Boston background, so my opinion on this film could be slightly skewed. There really aren't too many good movies which were shot in this great city (Mystic River and Good Will Hunting are the first and only that come to mind). I'm glad to see another filmmaker making use of the city's built-in ascetics. Even better, the city isn't just used as a backdrop for the action, but actually has a very important role in the story. William Monahan's screenplay captures the snappy sarcastic Boston dialogue perfectly.

While this may be Scorsese's return to the gangster genre, it isn't entirely done in the Goodfellas style. It seems that Martin has adopted a hybrid that comprises of modern day mod dramas such as The Sopronos (Which in itself takes much from Scorsese's earlier films).

Every single member of the all star cast delivers a performance worthy of Oscar consideration. These are high profile stars, but at no point do you look at the screen and see that. You're engulfed in the characters and story that are playing out before your eyes.

The Departed is the reason why I watch movies. It's both fun and smart, has incredible performances all down the line and never stops moving, up until the shockingly twisted ending that no one will see coming. This is by far the best movie of the year.

/Film Rating: 9.5 out of 10