THE DEPARTED

Director: Martin Scorsese

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin

Year: 2006

Rating: R

I'm not exactly sure how a film with such a brilliant, talented cast and one of the industry's best directors can turn out to be such a disappointment ... but, sadly, that's how The Departed played out for me. The film is well-loved by many, Scorsese fans especially, which may make this one of the less popular reviews you'll find here - but sloppy editing and continuity issues threw me right out of the story early on, and to me the script had enough plot holes to make me outright scratch my head in a few scenes; too many "conveniences" in the film lost credibility for me, and I apologize in advance if I can't say much more, because I don't want to give the film away.

Regardless of all the above, Leonardo DiCaprio turns in one of the best performances of his career playing Billy Costigan Jr. - a rookie state trooper brought up on the mean streets of South Boston whose father was basically a "good guy" while the rest of the men in his family were all basically criminals or deadbeats. After Billy graduates from the academy, he's brought into the offices of Captain Queenan - who, along with Staff Sgt. Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) - give Costigan a hell of a work-over about his past, wondering just what side of the law Billy might really be on, underneath.

There's a reason to the grilling, however, beyond getting to the truth; once both officials are sure that Costigan is a cop at heart, they make the guy an offer he can't refuse - and DiCaprio agrees to be part of a scheme that Queenan is hoping will smoke out a mole in the police's Special Investigations Unit division - a mole working for, no less, the biggest crime boss in Boston, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). The plot involves Billy appearing to be disgraced and thrown off the force committing a crime, and Costigan even cops a short prison term, in order for the entire thing to look legit. Soon, Billy finds himself out of prison and making contacts, getting closer and closer to working for Costello himself ...

As, meanwhile, the real rat at the SIU is none other than its most squeaky-clean cadet, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon). Early in the film, we see Costello befriend Colin and his family, earning loyalty in the future state cop even while he's still a young boy. That loyalty carries over, and as Sullivan - who is smart, and one hell of a manipulator - moves up in the ranks of the police force, he makes sure to keep Costello and his boys constantly informed of every move that could jeopardize them.

Once each new cop's situation is set up, the rest of the film is basically how unusually close their lives parallel (down to sleeping with the same police shrink, played by Vera Farmiga) ... as the two become aware of each other, each trying desperately to learn of the other's identity. Billy comes terribly close, at one point, following Colin (whose face he has not been able to see) down a dark alley - but when Billy's cell phone suddenly goes off ... a cell phone, that is, that was on vibrate a few minutes earlier, when Billy was in the theater where he first spotted Colin and Costello together in the first place.

That's just one example of the sloppy lack of continuity in the film; in some cases, that and the editing are just plain bad (in one instance, toward the end, a character has his hands cuffed behind his back - a major detail in the scene - but then, when he falls up against the wall of an elevator, his left hand automatically jerks out to save his fall, totally free ... yet the camera changes angles a second later, and he's cuffed again). Also, while DiCaprio is mesmerizing as Billy Costigan, there was something about Matt Damon's performance, to me, that just felt like acting; I really couldn't buy his character, especially as the film went on. Jack Nicholson - well hell, I'd watch Jack Nicholson in a TeleTubbies episode (hmm, that would be interesting) ... but as much as I love the guy, here he's definitely playing "Jack Nicholson" more than "Frank Costello" throughout.

The Departed (a remake of the much-better Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs) is a great-looking film, with some truly tense moments and its share of plot twists (even though some of them can be seen coming) - but it's no Casino. Yeah, I know it won Oscars, especially for Scorsese and as Best Picture, and that even Wahlberg was nominated (when DiCaprio should have been, as well). But somehow ... it just didn't do it for me. It's not a bad film - it doesn't suck - but it's also just not what I was expecting; not with this cast and director. **1/2 - Reel Mediocre-Reel Cool