“The Departed” is often seen as Martin Scorsese’s consultation prize. After being ignored and overlooked by the Academy for so long, Scorsese finally took home a Best Director Oscar for his crime thriller. While I don’t think this is one of Scorsese’s best movies, it’s still one of his most enjoyable, and to categorize it as little more than a consultation prize does it a disservice. Inspired by “Infernal Affairs,” Scorsese’s violent, vulgar, funny film follows two different men: Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan, a cop posing as a criminal, and Matt Damon as Colin Sullivan, a criminal posing as a cop.
The two men are connected to Frank Costello, a Boston crime boss played with over-the-top glee by Jack Nicholson. Scorsese uses this setup to stage a tense, crackling saga of violent, conflicted, damaged men. Damon is great as Sullivan, who is all talk but secretly woefully insecure. And DiCaprio is dynamite as Costigan, who seems to constantly be on the verge of a panic attack as he further infiltrates Costello’s gang. Of course, the real highlight is Nicholson, who seems to be having the time of his life playing Costello as an unhinged nutjob. Also great: Alec Baldwin, as a motor-mouthed Captain, and, surprisingly, Mark Wahlberg, who has never been better than he is here playing a no-nonsense Staff Sergeant. Working with longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker (who won an Oscar for this flick), Scorsese creates a film that feels like it never lets up. Now it has a great new 4K release.