A review of the 2006 movie “The Departed”
In 2002, Hong Kong had a hit with a Catonese-language stylish crime drama called “Infernal Affairs” which I enjoyed at the time and which soon spawned two sequels. In 2006, Hollywood remade the film as “The Departed” and it was so successful that it won four Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing).
Somehow, I missed the remake until the lockdown of the coronavirus crisis, but it sure took my mind off the global pandemic for two and a half hours.
Truly “The Departed” is cinema gold. First, it is directed by the top-flight Martin Scorsese, he of “Good Fellas” and “Casino” as well as other classics. Next, it has three excellent lead actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. Then it has a classy support cast including Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone and Vera Farmiga.
Critically, it has a cracking script from Boston-born William Monahan. The tension is sustained throughout, gradually ratcheting up to almost unbearable levels, before concluding with more twists than a corkscrew. Along the way, there is a good deal of violence and many men join the departed.
Set in Boston, like the original the basic premise is a double infiltration: young undercover cop Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) manages to get inside a mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello (Nicholson) while, at the same time, Costello has tough and unscrupulous Colin Sullivan (Damon) rising rapidly inside the South Boston state police force. When each becomes aware of the existence of the other, the stakes – already high – become as scary as hell.
While inspired by the Hong Kong movie, this American version is losely based on two real-life characters: the gangster Whitey Bulger and the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly.