The Departed (2006) Review: Two Moles, One Boston

Is The Departed worth watching?

Yes. The Departed is a ferociously entertaining crime thriller, the rare remake that stands confidently beside its source, and it finds Martin Scorsese working with the energy of a much younger filmmaker. The central double-mole premise generates constant tension, the dialogue is funny and filthy, and the cast is stacked with performers enjoying themselves. The reservations are modest: Jack Nicholson sometimes plays to the gallery, and a romantic subplot is more contrived than the rest of the story.

What is The Departed about?

In South Boston, the police are determined to bring down Irish-American crime boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). They send Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young recruit with family ties to the neighbourhood’s criminal world, deep undercover inside Costello’s crew. What they do not know is that Costello has planted his own man inside the force: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), an ambitious, polished detective rising quickly through the ranks. As both sides realise there is a rat in their midst, the two infiltrators are set on a collision course, each trying to expose the other before he is exposed himself.

The Departed was directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by William Monahan, remaking the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs. It is an American production in English, running 151 minutes, and it won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

A thriller built on paranoia

Scorsese and Monahan take a lean Hong Kong premise and expand it into a sprawling portrait of Boston’s cops and criminals, but the engine remains simple and ingenious. Both lead characters live double lives, and every phone call, meeting and surveillance operation carries the risk of exposure. The film cross-cuts between them with growing speed, and Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing keeps the two stories in dialogue, so that each man’s small victories are the other’s close calls.

The tension is sharpened by the film’s sense of identity. Billy and Colin are mirror images, each pretending to be what the other really is, and the question of who they actually are becomes as important as whether they will be caught.

A cast in full cry

DiCaprio gives one of his rawest performances as Billy, a man slowly coming apart from the stress of undercover work; his nervous energy and flashes of violence make the danger palpable. Damon is excellent in a less showy role, playing Colin’s charm and ambition with a slick confidence that hides a cold emptiness.

Nicholson’s Costello is a grand, grotesque creation, witty and genuinely frightening in some scenes, though at times the performance tips into showmanship. Among the supporting players, Mark Wahlberg is a highlight as a foul-mouthed, perpetually furious sergeant, with Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Ray Winstone adding texture. Vera Farmiga’s police psychiatrist is well played, but her role as a link between the two men is the most artificial element of the plot.

Scorsese’s energy and the film’s excess

The film moves with a propulsive, rock-scored rhythm, and Scorsese shoots Boston’s bars, police offices and rooftops with a restless energy that suits the material. Violence arrives suddenly and brutally, often punctuated by pitch-black humour. That tonal mix is one of the film’s pleasures, although the frequent profanity and bluster can feel exhausting over two and a half hours.

Compared with Infernal Affairs, The Departed is looser, noisier and more concerned with character and milieu than with elegant plotting. Whether that is an improvement is a matter of taste, but it is unmistakably a Scorsese film.

Who should watch The Departed?

It is essential for fans of crime thrillers, undercover stories and Scorsese’s gangster films, and a good choice for anyone who wants a gripping, star-packed evening. It is strictly for adults: the violence is sudden and bloody, the language is constant and strong, and there are drug references and sexual content. The 151-minute runtime is long, but it moves quickly.

For more in the same vein:

• Infernal Affairs, the tighter, more melancholy original that inspired it.
• GoodFellas, Scorsese’s defining gangster film, which shares its kinetic style and dark humour.

The verdict

The Departed is a thrilling, darkly funny and relentlessly tense crime film, driven by an ingenious premise and a cast firing on all cylinders. Nicholson’s showboating and a contrived romantic thread are minor flaws in one of the most purely enjoyable films of Scorsese’s career.

Rating: 4.5/5