Review of The Departed (2006) by Jason T — 08 Jul 2014

It's really hard to call this a crime drama due to the hilarious insults and creative cursing that is abound throughout. Leonardo DiCaprio goes DEEP undercover to take down Jack Nicholson's Irish mob boss and is terrified to learn there is a cop in the know informing Frank about everything the police do. Matt Damon plays the informant on the other side of the law, letting Frank know when danger is around the corner.

This film features great performances from all involved, even though most of the characters are neurotic and somewhat unlikable. The exception being Martin Sheen's fatherly Captain Queenan, who oversees Leo's undercover work. He dies three fourths of the way through in a quite shocking manner. Mark Wahlberg gives probably his best performance as the profane, hilarious Sergeant Dingham. He has the most stone cold moment at the end of the movie when he takes out the snitch. Apparently he's so stone cold he wants to get caught as well because he leaves Damon's apartment door wide open when he walks out with the most conspicuous getup on that screams "assassin". Alec Baldwin is just as good as Captain "World needs plenty of bartenders!" Ellerby.

Jack Nicholson looks really old, and at times seems to be channeling Jack Torrance a little bit when his performance threatens to go campy, but he does reel it in at the nick of time. Expect plenty of surprises in the screenplay, as the twist and turns keep coming entertainingly, if not always believably. Why would you leave evidence of a betrayal visible on your desk where the one person who would understand the piece of evidence could see it? Still very entertaining all the same. Score: 8.5.