THE DEPARTED

"When I was your age, they would say you could become cops or criminals. What I'm saying is this: When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"

Martin Scorsese has had plenty of success directing crime-based films. MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER, GOODFELLAS, CASINO, and GANGS OF NEW YORK are all exemplary looks at crime from different perspectives, with different points being addressed to its viewer. THE DEPARTED is Scorsese's best film, crime drama or not, since GOODFELLAS, and in many ways it is better than his 1990 saga.

THE DEPARTED tells a complex story of undercover police work in Boston, Massachusetts. Leonardo DiCaprio, in his third straight Martin Scorsese film, plays Bill Conigan, a cop assigned to go deep undercover in crime lord Frank Costello's syndicate (Costello is played by Jack Nicholson). Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) plays for both teams as well, as a police officer/informant for Costello. These three leads are surrounded by a phenomenal supporting cast including Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin, all of who play other cops assigned to the case.

As Conigan, Leo DiCaprio sheds any boyish features and memories unavoidably connected with his TITANIC fame. I thought he was miscast in GANGS OF NEW YORK, and while his portrayal as near-psychotic Howard Hughes in THE AVIATOR was very solid, he was not convincing as a character who aged and matured several years. Here DiCaprio's performance is a tour-de-force, a frenetic ball of pent-up anger and fear, and the results are explosive. Conigan is surrounded by dangerous men who do not blink at violence, and would kill him instantly if his cover is blown. While Conigan tries (often times fruitlessly) to keep his cool, Sullivan seemingly has all the right moves. This is no knock on Damon's performance, though. The role required a much more subdued, contained style of fear, and Damon pulls it off. He hasn't looked as natural in his character's shoes since his turn as the titular character in GOOD WILL HUNTING (a role that he wrote). Nicholson, as always, brings an energy and life to a character that could have just been 'another guy'. While the role was reported ad-libbed and improvised by Nicholson to Scorsese's dismay, I couldn't have found it more intelligent.

As great as the actors are, it is Scorsese's direction that makes this movie as great as it is. His filmography has been filled with paranoids and psychopaths (Travis Bickle, Jake LaMotta, Tommy DeVito) as well as glamorized, stylized looks at crime (GOODFELLAS, CASINO). I don't mean to belittle these films, I am just saying that this is (no pun intended) a departure of sorts for Scorsese. THE DEPARTED is in essence a crime procedural, and he treats it like one. He puts his effort into making the film a story with a really structured plot and realistic characters, and it succeeds because of it. Because he does not structure his characters to be almost carbon copies of previous films (such as Joe Pesci's almost identical roles in GOODFELLAS and CASINO), instead making them deep, complicated, relatable, and original, he has taken a step forward as a director. He also builds up the tension slowly until the climax, which is maybe the most violent and riveting scene he has ever shot as a director. THE DEPARTED is a masterpiece, and the best film of 2006 to this point.

A+