The Departed

The Departed (Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg) – The best movie in years, Martin Scorsese takes elements of some of the best movies of this genre – L.A. Confidential, Heat, Basic Instinct, Goodfellas – and creates a masterpiece of intrigue, violence, mystery, surprise and even humor to deliver a powerful experience to audiences.  It is so refreshing to see Leo in the right kind of role now that he’s matured and Damon playing the kind of part that fits him better than Jason Bourne.  And when you add Jack’s totally unique and spot-on performance as the most ruthless mob boss in Boston, you realize that cinema, at its best, can transform an audience, tell a story, absorb you, and engross an audience.  With an all-star cast, every one of whom both knows their part and steals their scenes, Scorsese allows the story to move logically toward logical end after logical end while still surprising you at every stage.  Is it possible to dislike this Oscar contender?  Maybe, particularly if you don’t like cops and mobster flicks.  But, in the way that The Godfather was able to transcend its genre, so can this.  And the comparison may not be terribly overblown although this may not be the sentinel piece that The Godfather was.  The closest comparison is L.A. Confidential, but this one has richer characters that give you the flavor of Boston without the odor of a manufactured script.  When Oscar time comes, I would expect that this first entry of the fall season will be well considered, most notably Scorsese, Nicholson, and DiCaprio (note: WRONG! on the latter two).  Marty will be forgiven the occasional hokey cinematic touch (talk to me after you’ve seen this), and he almost certainly will be rewarded for his meticulous direction here.  Now the story: Leo and Matt both graduate from the State Police Academy the same year, but head in different directions.  Leo, with the questionable family background, goes undercover in an elite secret unit aimed at exposing the “baddest” man in town, played by Jack Nicholson in an amazing performance.  Damon, the pretty boy prototype of a young cop, goes mainstream but hides a secret that shaped his entire life and explains his motivation in becoming a cop.  Like Heat, it’s a traditional bad-guy, good-guy flick where it’s hard to tell who to root for.  There’s a woman, of course, played by recognizable, but unknown, Vera Farmiga.  She’s a police psychologist who falls in love with both, but has no idea she’s in the midst of the action until it’s too late. The supporting cast is amazing with Martin Sheen (no longer President Jeb Bartlett) as the police chief; Mark Wahlberg, as the aggressive, almost maniacal, leader of the elite undercover unit; and Alec Baldwin, as a veteran, bizarre head of the special investigator’s squad.   Nicholson’s mob is dealing drugs and microchips, running a protections racket and killing other mobsters and is firmly in the gun sights of the cops.  Aching to make a case to put him away forever, Sheen, Wahlberg, Baldwin and company penetrate the mob not knowing that they are equally compromised within their own ranks.  It’s cat-and-mouse, threaten-and-kill, love-and-learn for over two-and-a-half hours.  Like Heat, the classic confrontation comes in a you-or-me scene.  But everything that follows surprises and amazes you.  The movie is actually a remake of a foreign film from Hong Kong but it feels very authentically American.  Enjoy.

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