AmateurMovieReviews.com

The Departed is an action movie which would catch the attention of any movie fan who loves slam bang action and drama all in one. You would not be so keen to watch the movie if you based it on the title if you know what I mean. But read the casting coup and you will turn a three hundred and sixty degree.

First, the casting is great with an almost all-starcast consisting of Leonardo DiCarpio (of The Beach andAviator fame), Matt Damon (of Good Will Hunting and the two book turned action films Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy), Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin andMartin Sheen. And gasp! This film was directed by the great Martin Scorsese and was produced by no less than Brad Pitt!

The Departed seems like an ordinary action movie but once the movie gets through you, you would get the undertones that the director and scriptwriter wanted to project. Unlike other action movies, this movie is not just all about guns and violence but it also has an important insight about society.

The opening scene shows a mean gangster Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson, who has declared himself the protector of the business people in a district in Boston City . While doing his daily rounds asking for money from traders, he develops an interest on a little boy named. Costello took the boy under her wings and began to brainwash him on the gangster world.

After that brief scene the great Scorsese take us tothe police training camp where two students BillyCostigan (DiCarpio) and Colin Sullivan (Damon) were about to graduate. Training time was of no consequence except for that scene where Costigan was talking to a black classmate. The conversation gave us an idea of the racial discrimination existing in Massachusetts.

Then the plot starts to get really interesting whenSullivan was given a thumbs up after being interviewedby two detectives played by Wahlberg and Sheen. Sullivan's untarnished family record apparently gothim to the good graces of the Police Department whoaccepted him as one of their great finds.

A different scenario however faced Costigan who was bombarded with insults and questions about his family. Apparently, he had a gangster father, criminal uncles and cousins who were into drugs and other illegal trade. I would have given Wahlberg a beating had he been in front of me during that scene when he berated Costigan for wanting to become a police when his background would tell otherwise.

Everyone would think that Costigan was not accepted bythe District. However, it turned out that it was only a ploy to put on record that he was not accepted bythe District. After which, he was approached by Wahlberg and Sheen and was offered to work with the District not as an honest to goodness policeman who reports for office daily but as an undercover agent sent to infiltrate Costello's camp.

It turned out that the police have been trying to pindown Costello for a long time now but to no avail. The efforts of Costigan to bring Costello to justiceseems to be taking slow because the mob chief alwaysmanaged to be a step ahead of police operations.

While Costigan was busy earning the trust of Costello,which was not easy despite his family background, Sullivan was going places in the department and was even assigned as head of the investigation unit. A series of incidents raised Costigan's antenna who confronted Sheen and Wahlberg to the possibility of their department being infiltrated by a rat.

I have seen DiCarpio essay a lot of roles and his performance in his past films and in this one has only made me look forward to seeing his movies. DiCarpiois a very good actor who really gets into his role. In The Departed, he was the wrong guy who wanted in! He was gangster material all the way despite his preference for cranberry juice in the movie.

The plot becomes more exciting when snippets of the truth unfolds and the viewers realize that the Department has indeed been infiltrated by no less than that little boy whom Costello brainwashed and whom he financed to become a cop! The little boy turned outto be Sullivan who has now risen to a very powerful position in the Department and who has access to almost every police information helpful to Costello except of course the identity of the infiltrator in Costello's camp.

The intertwining lives of Sullivan and Costigan became apparent after both become involved with police psychiatrist Madolyn Madden played by Vera Farmiga. Sullivan moves in with Madden who ultimately fell for Costigan whom she sees professionally at first until their relationship deepened later on.

You could not help feeling sorry for both Costigan and Sullivan. Costigan for being the boy who was born in the wrong family and for Sullivan because an evil man like Costello played on his childhood vulnerability and made him such an evil man.

However, Sullivan's character finally strives to become free from Costello's clutches when his girlfriend Madolyn (who was pregnant) turns his backon him after learning of his real identity. Torn between keeping his already flourishing career as an investigator and the clutches of Costello, Sullivan finally decides to kill Costello in a typical rubout manner. He gets a medal for it as an added punch.

Costigan finally discovers Sullivan as the mole of Costello when he gets his paycheck from the Department. So now, what do you think got me frustrated over the movie? I still want happy endings and I do not want the good guys to lose. Costigan was killed by Sullivan and this turned me off. How come Costigan's heroic deeds were not even allowed to be known is beyond me. However, justice finally prevailed and Sullivan was killed by, who else, but Wahlberg who was avenging the killing of Sheen.

This movie may not be one of Scorsese's great but itis more than an action movie. It makes one think and brood over how humans can be so judgmental just because of a person's background. If you love a thinking action movie then watch this film. It will be worth your time.