Review of The Departed (2006) by Andrew B — 03 Dec 2015

Whether you want to admit it or not, after seeing Casino, although enjoyable, I thought Martin Scorsese had pretty much run his course with Mob related movies. Scorsese hits a home run with The Departed.

Then again its hard to miss when you have Martin Scorsese and throw in an absolute all star cast on top of it. Leonardo Dicaprio and Matt Damon both give amazing lead performances, but there are also great smaller performances by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen.

In my opinion I think this is where Dicaprio got snubbed the hardest by Oscar voters. I thought at least a nomination for Best Supporting Actor was due for his performance in The Departed. As Billy Costigan he is an absolute disaster because of stress and trying to keep himself together throughout this entire ordeal that he is in the center of.

Dicaprio plays it brilliantly. There is also an undertone to this movie since it is not the run of the mill old school gangster flick. This is a very modern movie, there is nothing throwback about The Departed at all.

The use of technology and cell phones is prominent throughout the entire film. Just showing how lost we would probably be without this technology and how the police and the criminals both use it to their advantage.

The Departed finally got Martin Scorsese his best picture Oscar, and it was well deserved. I highly recommend this movie to pretty much anyone, you don't have to be a mafia movie fan to enjoy this thriller.