989. The Departed

The Departed
2006
Directed by Martin Scorsese

I would have never thought that the early 2000s are my favorite era of film, but I am passing out five star ratings like there is no tomorrow.  This is probably my favorite Scorsese movie (a big statement, I know) and, according to the man himself, the only one of his films that has a plot.

What that plot is, though, is hard to describe succinctly.  Basically, Frank Costello, an Irish mob boss, plants Colin Sullivan as a mole in the Boston police department.  At the same time, the police department sends Billy Costigan to go undercover to infiltrate Costello's crew.  While both sides are aware of the other mole's existence, their identities remain a secret.  Sullivan and Costigan both find themselves falling for the police psychiatrist, Madolyn Madden.  Damon and DiCaprio?  She is just being greedy.

For once in a Scorsese film we had someone to cheer for.  Usually every character is fairly revolting.  Here we have flawed characters that still manage to be likable.  There was also a lot of humor in this film, particularly in the scenes with Baldwin and Wahlberg.  Who would have guessed the pair of them would have been funnier than Martin and Lewis?  I suppose that is not too high of a bar.

Anyway, I was sold on this film as soon as I knew the cast list.  I mean, Baldwin, Damon, DiCaprio, Nicholson, and Farmiga?  Truly, the film would have had to be horrendous to screw that up.  Farmiga is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses; I saw her in the Conjuring 2 recently and she was brilliant.

I really have to get around to watching the original.  A strong contender for my Best Picture choice.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Originally was meant to star Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

Body count of 22.

Martin Scorsese joked that Mark Wahlberg's Boston accent was so thick he need subtitles.