The Departed (2006)

Featured Audience Ratings

• John M

  
  This was a great movie from beginning tp the final minutes and than i felt rushed. Very rushed, Im not sure why but the final 30 minutes or so just were overdone. But in the end still a great movie.

• Letitia L

  
  I respect Leo a lot as an actor but have never liked him in any of his movies. He was too annoyingly bright-eyed in Titanic, too annoyingly smug in Catch Me If You Can, too annoyingly jaded in Inception... but in this movie he is perfect. He is vulnerable, tragic, and I maintain… More
  I respect Leo a lot as an actor but have never liked him in any of his movies. He was too annoyingly bright-eyed in Titanic, too annoyingly smug in Catch Me If You Can, too annoyingly jaded in Inception... but in this movie he is perfect. He is vulnerable, tragic, and I maintain that any girl who watches this movie cannot stop herself from reaching out to the screen wanting to take his trembling head into her arms and soothe his fraught soul. What makes this movie so good is that it lavishly indulges its villains, building up this gross inequity as it coasts on, blithely ignoring all sense of justice and morality that we've come to expect from Hollywood. If you hate spoilers then stop reading now because here's a spoiler for you: it doesn't have a happy ending. And it kills me, it twists the knife deeper as we watch Billy sink further into paranoia and helplessness, needing his reality back and the movie holds it outstretched, denying him relief and denying him his reward for fighting the good fight. What a spectacular tease. Icing on the cake: Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, all the colourful language and the Boston accents.

• Albert K

  
  "The Departed" is brimming with style. First off, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson are incredible; they're extraordinary -- possible Leonardo's best performance. Though it isn't Martin Scorsese's greatest film, it is masterfully directed… More
  "The Departed" is brimming with style. First off, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson are incredible; they're extraordinary -- possible Leonardo's best performance. Though it isn't Martin Scorsese's greatest film, it is masterfully directed coupled with great dialogue. The pacing is great and the score was immersive. A must watch.

• moon r

  
  Great writing, great cast, great direction, all here, all accounted for, and everybody's workin' dere Baston acksents. Cellphones shoulda got an acting credit cause the story revolves around them. The only flaw is that the work has identity issues, compares itself to The… More
  Great writing, great cast, great direction, all here, all accounted for, and everybody's workin' dere Baston acksents. Cellphones shoulda got an acting credit cause the story revolves around them. The only flaw is that the work has identity issues, compares itself to The Godfather and GoodFellas too much.

• Alexander D

  
  Scorsese directs a violent update of the well-known Chinese mob film, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, from just four years prior. Set in Boston, Massachusetts, the story tells of a mob boss named Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) who sends out a criminal, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon).… More
  Scorsese directs a violent update of the well-known Chinese mob film, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, from just four years prior. Set in Boston, Massachusetts, the story tells of a mob boss named Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) who sends out a criminal, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon). Simultaneously, the local police have sent out Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) to infiltrate Costello's mob. Recently, I saw a few Best Picture winners, namely TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, that I thought were acceptable, but not good enough to win the most anticipated Academy Award. I feared, therefore, that it would be the same case with THE DEPARTED. How wrong I was! This film started off a little slow (the actual title didn't show for almost twenty minutes), but by the thirty-minute mark, it was absolutely deserving of four stars. (And I would do anything to see another crime film like this!) I've heard from a few websites now that The Departed 2 is being made. Really? By the way this film ended, there's no way a sequel would work, unless it ties in to its predecessor in no way. (Which technically means it won't work, so I rest my case.) Don't get me wrong, I loved THE DEPARTED; the fact, though, that a sequel should be made is absolutely inconceivable. The cast for this film was simply phenomenal. Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin. Great performances, too, are delivered from these actors, observing that casts typically don't work out so well when they are studded with stars. Before this, the only Martin Scorsese film I had seen was SHINE A LIGHT, his Rolling Stones documentary. Seeing one of his true pictures was astounding, to say the least. The musical soundtrack in this film was often hard to recognize, but nevertheless well-done. There were only a few songs that I could name, which were The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"; Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb"; and Dropkick Murphys' "I'm Shipping Up to Boston", which I first heard on this film's SIMPSONS parody; but as there was little musical score, the music supported almost every single scene. Overall, THE DEPARTED was very enjoyable. Every moment was exciting, thrilling, and intriguing; and even at two and a half hours, it never runs overlong.

• Graham J

  
  Classic Scorsese. His late masterpiece.

• Eric A

  
  Jack Nicholson made this movie for me. If you want a good action/drama with a good plot, here you go.

• Melvin W

  
  Colin Sullivan: Do you know what will happen if you shoot me? Billy Costigan: Yeah, this bullet will go right through your fucking head! I'm having a tough time deciding what my favorite Scorsese movie is. Every time I have thought about it, my favorite shifts between this,… More
  Colin Sullivan: Do you know what will happen if you shoot me? Billy Costigan: Yeah, this bullet will go right through your fucking head! I'm having a tough time deciding what my favorite Scorsese movie is. Every time I have thought about it, my favorite shifts between this, Casino, Goodfellas, and Raging Bull. After a third viewing of The Departed, I'm starting to lean towards it. This movie is an amazing piece of filmmaking by Scorsese. It's gritty and suspenseful from start to finish. The cast is excellent. Jack Nicholson gives what may end up being his last great performance. Mark Wahlberg gives his best performance and Matt Damon is excellent as always. Martin Sheen and Vera Farmiga are great in their supporting role as well. But let's talk about the true star of this film, Leonardo DiCaprio. The guy is the best actor going right now. He keeps starring in great movie after great movie. Gangs of New York, The Aviator, Blood Diamond, Shutter Island, Revolutionary Road, Body of Lies, Inception, and The Departed since 2002. There's no denying he's the best right now. The Departed has such an engrossing plot. Billy Costigan(Leonardo DiCaprio) is undercover and is working for Frank Costello(Jack Nicholson). He's trying to get something on him that will stick, but it's difficult because Costello has an informer who is also a cop in Colin Sullivan(Matt Damon). Everyone knows that there's rats and informers but don't know who they are and it just adds to the suspense that we know and they don't. Like Hitchcock said if you tell us there's a bomb and let it play out, that's suspense if you just blow it up without telling us, that's a surprise. Like every Scorsese the soundtrack is really good as well. I don't know if The Departed is Scorsese's best movie, but I think it's my favorite.

• Candy R

  
  Gripping action thriller with many lives on the line. Great cast - Leo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Ray Winstone, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Mark Walhberg. Martin Scorsese directs his second movie starring Leo. The movie's premise is based on a Hong Kong movie called… More
  Gripping action thriller with many lives on the line. Great cast - Leo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Ray Winstone, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Mark Walhberg. Martin Scorsese directs his second movie starring Leo. The movie's premise is based on a Hong Kong movie called Infernal Affairs, but The Departed is about Boston gangsters and cops. Leo plays Billy, an undercover cop who becomes a mole in a FBI wanted gang. He comes from a family not on the right side of the law, but he trains to be a police officer. Jack plays the gangster who also has a mole (Matt) in the police. It's strange seeing Matt as a bad guy. Their lives run in parallel, looking for each other - the moles. But there are further twists and turns when a woman and loyalties are at stake. It will have you on the edge of your seat. No matter what Leo does you want him to pull through. Leo is brilliant. My fave line is Leo's as Billy - "You want him to chop me up and feed me to the poor? Is that what you want?" Another great performance!

• Brad W

  
  The Departed is my favorite film by Martin Scorsese, its a complete masterpiece and is my favorite mob film ever made, and is my 10th favorite film ever. As the police force attempts to reign in the increasingly powerful Irish mafia, authorities are faced with the prospect of sending… More
  The Departed is my favorite film by Martin Scorsese, its a complete masterpiece and is my favorite mob film ever made, and is my 10th favorite film ever. As the police force attempts to reign in the increasingly powerful Irish mafia, authorities are faced with the prospect of sending in an undercover agent or seeing their already frail grip on the criminal underworld slip even further. Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a young cop looking to make a name for himself in the world of law enforcement. Collin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is a street-smart criminal who has successfully infiltrated the police department with the sole intention of reporting their every move to ruthless syndicate head Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). When Costigan is assigned the task of working his way into Costello's tightly guarded inner circle, Sullivan is faced with the responsibility of rooting out the informer before things get out of hand. With the stakes constantly rising and time quickly running out for the undercover cop and his criminal counterpart, each man must work feverishly to reveal his counterpart before his identity is exposed by the other. The plot of The Departed is a wonder to behold, and is truly a true showing of how genius Scosese is, and it is mysterious, intense, and slowly gets closer and closer to a incredible and satisfactory and controversial end. The cats is perfectly picked and was completely perfect, Leonardo DiCaprio is amazing and i don't care what anyone say, his role was great and Oscar worthy. Matt damon is playing a great role, and the tension he feels about geting caught is nail biting. The show stealer however was probably Jack Nicholson, he play one of the roles he was born to, as a crazy and genius mob boss who everyone fears. The production of the film made it feel like watching Goodfellas for the first time, when everyone was just blown away at the genius. Martin Scorsese has created another masterpiece, and his directing is the only one that may have been able to make it perfect. This films is a genius work of art, every minute is awesome, every minute is intense, and every minute makes it one of the best films of all time.

• Michael G

  
  The Departed not only proves that Martin Scorsese (at the time) still has/had it but vastly improved on the original, Infernal Affairs. Admittedly this shouldn't have been the one Scorsese got the Oscar for but better late than never. There's not a bad performance to be… More
  The Departed not only proves that Martin Scorsese (at the time) still has/had it but vastly improved on the original, Infernal Affairs. Admittedly this shouldn't have been the one Scorsese got the Oscar for but better late than never. There's not a bad performance to be found and anyone who calls Scorsese a has-been after seeing this movie is a goddamn fool. Great writing, great acting, great casing and a great soundtrack with plenty of references to Scorsese's earlier work. Great, great stuff...

• Kase V

  
  Martin Scorcese's 'The Departed' is vintage Scorcese, a film that will bring back memories of his past ventures while mixing it with a contemporary style that is bold and brilliant. The performances are all completely top notch, with Damon, DiCaprio, and Nicholson… More
  Martin Scorcese's 'The Departed' is vintage Scorcese, a film that will bring back memories of his past ventures while mixing it with a contemporary style that is bold and brilliant. The performances are all completely top notch, with Damon, DiCaprio, and Nicholson turning in brilliant performances. Whalberg, Sheen, Farmiga, Baldwin, and Winstone are also a delight to watch every time they are on screen. Scorcese clearly had fun choosing his ensemble cast. This movie is also made brilliant by its Editing, beautiful work that deserved to win the Oscar. Another great (classic?) from Scorcese!

• shahmeer h

  
  While I watched The Departed, I grew to like it more and more with every growing second. It was either the vigorous cast of DiCaprio, Damon, Nicholsan, and Whalburg, or the interesting "rat" storyline, or just the fact that people were just dropping dead for, actually, good… More
  While I watched The Departed, I grew to like it more and more with every growing second. It was either the vigorous cast of DiCaprio, Damon, Nicholsan, and Whalburg, or the interesting "rat" storyline, or just the fact that people were just dropping dead for, actually, good reasons. The light humor was also very entertaining, as was the non-stop action. But I can truly tell you, this film is a must watch. The Departed takes place in the city of Boston. It follows to pure rivals; an Irish gang and the state police. During the coarse of the film, both the police and the gang have a "rat", or a mole, each coming from the other rival. It shows the police rat's side, (DiCaprio), to be the good guy. But then it also shows the gang rat's side (Dammon), to be the bad one, obviously. So the film just becomes a race to see who each other's rat is, and to get the Irish gang obilorated once and for all. You just have to see the rest to see what happens. The acting in this film just blew your mind, right from the very moment that you saw the freakin amazing casting of Damon, DiCaprio, and Nicholsan, you knew you were getting yourself into an action packed movie. I would personally say that DiCaprio and Nicholsan were tied as the best actors in the film, for there was just so much intensity coming from the two. It was as if they had perfect chemistry, but they were scared s**tless about each other. I wouldn't have been surprised if Nicholsan won Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, for this is the type of guy the Academy likes. Really, who doesnt like Nicholsan? And who doesnt like Scorsese? I can tell you that I freakin love him, and adore him for his work. It's extremely wrong that his previous films never won for Best Picture, but truly, if there had to be one film that would've won, it would've been this one. He gives a clear message at the end of the film, if you want a happy ending, sad things have GOT to happen. And that's what makes him the best director of 2006, and this the best film of 2006.

• Coxxie M

  
  "Ay! Lookit... I EENT. NO. FUCKEENG. CYOP. ar-right?"

• John H

  
  i guess i just became sick of it. The relations betweeen the characters seemed nuetral. Leo's boston accent was overdone and irraitating. Some scenes weren't thought out so well and would just burst out without a chance to sanely introduce it. And cellphones were practically… More
  i guess i just became sick of it. The relations betweeen the characters seemed nuetral. Leo's boston accent was overdone and irraitating. Some scenes weren't thought out so well and would just burst out without a chance to sanely introduce it. And cellphones were practically the center of the film. I could edit the cellphone scenes and make a pretty good "silence your cells" add. I give credit to Jack and Mark for this, and that may be it.

• Lady D

  
  A complicated web of deceipt of corruption, violence crafted with twists and turns throughout. Many have chosen the original Chinese version of the story ?Infernal Affairs? to be the best version and usually in most cases I believe the original to be the best, but have to say ?The… More
  A complicated web of deceipt of corruption, violence crafted with twists and turns throughout. Many have chosen the original Chinese version of the story ?Infernal Affairs? to be the best version and usually in most cases I believe the original to be the best, but have to say ?The Departed? marginally scores better with me and is a very worthy Scorsese masterpiece. Probably the best Hollywood gangster movie since Goodfellas, with a gifted all star cast, with a superb performance by Jack Nicholson and great performances by both Dicaprio and Damon. With greatly fitting music throughout, the right amount of humour and fantastic plot ? it?s a Hollywood must see.

• Richard C

  
  A really great mob movie. Grade: A

• Jeff "

  
  Martin Scorsese crafts one of his best since Goodfellas. The Departed is a no nonsense gangster films filled with drama, action and suspense. As usual Martin Scorsese has a terrific cast in this film. Scorsese along with Coppola are the two best directors to tackle the crime genre.… More
  Martin Scorsese crafts one of his best since Goodfellas. The Departed is a no nonsense gangster films filled with drama, action and suspense. As usual Martin Scorsese has a terrific cast in this film. Scorsese along with Coppola are the two best directors to tackle the crime genre. The Departed is one of the best films of the genre. This is a solidly paced Drama and is a fine return for Scorsese who long mastered the art of the gangster film. The Departed is a terrific film and Scorsese delivers yet another solid picture. He has finally been recognized for his talents by winning a best director Oscar, and it's a well deserved indeed. I strongly feel that Scorsese truly deserved an Oscar. The Departed is a solid, and flawless work of genius, and Martin Scorsese definitely knows to get every single element out of his films to get the mos out of them. Though he won for The Departed, I believe in Martin Scorsese's case, his Oscar was for his many masterful films that haven't won in the past. This film is definitely Scorsese's best since Goodfellas. A superb film from start to finish, the cast here deliver strong performances, most notably Mark Wahlberg as Sergeant Dignam and of course Leonardo Dicaprio as Billy Costigan. What makes The Departed so good is the fact that Scorsese returns to what he does best, crime films. This film is a finereturn to form, and it shows that Scorsese still has the talent to pull off an entertaining crime film. This is probably his best crime film because the plot deals with an informant inside a criminal organization. Terrific and Thrilling story, This a truly awesome picture, and the fact that Martin Scorsese got finally recgonized for it, makes it that much better. The Departed is a confident film by a director who shows no signs of slowng down.

• Jennifer D

  
  What a perfect ending. Couldn't think of a better one myself. Now there are like 50 billion fantastic male actors in this and to even mention the great acting is redundant. They are excellent by nature. Leo, Martin, Jack and Alec were my favorites by far. I think as stories go,… More
  What a perfect ending. Couldn't think of a better one myself. Now there are like 50 billion fantastic male actors in this and to even mention the great acting is redundant. They are excellent by nature. Leo, Martin, Jack and Alec were my favorites by far. I think as stories go, this one was paced a little faster than some of Scorsese's films. Felt a lot sleeker and edgy? But then again, the actual plot was pretty bad ass. And was it just me or was there less violence? I can go either way, but I dunno. Although Jack Nicholson had a very cool death scene. Though doesn't he always? Wait, this movie was produced by Brad Pitt? WTF?!

• Antony S

  
  Being a fan of the Infernal Affairs trilogy, I would have normally been very sceptical about the prospect of a Hollywood remake of the subtle Hong Kong thriller. And though many have raised objection to such a remake, I think we need to remind ourselves that this is Martin Scorsese.… More
  Being a fan of the Infernal Affairs trilogy, I would have normally been very sceptical about the prospect of a Hollywood remake of the subtle Hong Kong thriller. And though many have raised objection to such a remake, I think we need to remind ourselves that this is Martin Scorsese. <br/>The god of the urban warzone continues his love/hate affair with the ruthless gangsterism that has almost become synonymous with his New York work. <br/>In a blow-for-blow account, both films emerge quite evenly, and are both essential viewing. Though the subtlety of the original is more or less taken over by extreme violence (even by Scorsese standards, usually perpetrated by Ray Winstone's hired muscle), it does seem to better fit the grubby aesthetic of Boston. <br/>Cast-wise, we do suffer from some dodgy Irish accents

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