It has been a while since a big star-studded movie rocked the house, but “The Departed” actually shakes the walls a few times. Martin Scorsese’s violent new crime opus is a very satisfying experience.
It’s based on a Hong Kong picture, “Infernal Affairs.” The plotline is not much better than an intelligent arc on a good TV cop series, but Scorsese and company make it crackle.
The plot revolves around the Boston police effort to nail an Irish-American gangster, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). But he’s installed a longtime protege, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) in the ranks of the Massachusetts State Police. Sullivan keeps Costello informed of the investigation so the gangster can keep a step ahead.
The cops enlist an undercover agent, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), to infiltrate Costello’s crew, which he does. At the same time, Costello becomes suspicious about a rat in his organization. He orders Sullivan – who doesn’t know the mole’s identity – to find out who it is.
It might sound convoluted, but Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan make this material coherent – and as attention-getting as a forearm to the skull. The pungent, frequently profane dialogue shoves the story along without ever sounding like exposition.
Scorsese and longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker have devised a jigsaw-like approach that diddy-bops around while still moving forward for 21/2 hours. We keep skipping from Sullivan to Costigan and back, while at every step both men seem on the verge of having their actual identities exposed. It’s an ingenious structure.
At times Scorsese leans on his tendency to use 1960s and ’70s pop songs to enliven a scene (which made sense in “GoodFellas,” set in that era), a bit of a lazy shortcut. But other than that, his directing reflects the hard, masculine world of the characters.
The only female character is a police psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga), who falls for both men – a bit of a stretch, but a device that links Sullivan and Costigan long before they actually meet.
The powerhouse cast delivers on its promise. Nicholson is not at his most disciplined, but he certainly is decadent enough for his debauched character. Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg are excellent as the two cops who know Costigan’s identity. Alec Baldwin positively shines as the boss of the crime unit.
“The Departed” is draped around the shoulders of DiCaprio and Damon, who are opposite sides of the same coin. Both young actors turn in lean, focused performances, with DiCaprio tortured and strung-out and Damon likable, competent and utterly amoral.
Scorsese is in better gear here than in his Oscar-mongering “Gangs of New York” and “The Aviator.” This movie has a narrower aim – and within that groove, it’s pure excitement.
Matt Damon (left) and Leonardo DiCaprio are among the stars of “The Departed.”
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