The Departed

If you have been looking for one, here is a movie worth the ticket price you are asked to pay. This is one great little movie. It was adapted from the 2002 Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs, which I have not seen. The film's plot has to do with a good cop (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) that is being used to go undercover to infiltrate the mob, and a bad cop (who is played by Matt Damon) who is on the payroll of the mob who is trying to find out who the good cop actual is, so he can rat him out to the mob. The Departed was confidently directed by Martin Scorsese. I just got through reading "The Best American Crime Writing 2006", and I was surprised how much in common The Departed had with a piece in this book about the two New York detectives, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, that were recently accused of making hits for the mob while on the force.

The Departed has a great opening, one of the best that I have seen, with Jack Nicholson's face in the shadows and his singular voice booming out into the theater. The screenplay has some small holes in it, but was written with a lot of care, and it shows. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the second half of the movie. The screenplay does a great job of presenting all of the smoke and mirrors that each side tries to play against the other side. I hope Leonardo will get an Oscar nomination for this performance. Much of the success of the film should be given to him. He is dynamite in this film. In every twist and turn of this plot you will be sweating right along with him. It is a great performance, and Scorsese pulls the whole thing off brilliantly. And Matt Damon, great here at playing a little weasel, gives us a villain that Leonardo can play off of. The whole thing has the feel of a Greek tragedy. The soundtrack was also carefully chosen and includes a couple of Rolling Stones songs. Give yourself a little present, go see this movie.

You can write James Harper at movielover77061@yahoo.com