Elusive plot intrigues viewers in action thriller
By Maggie Beidelman
Place Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio together as enemies in the same movie, with Jack Nicholson as the nutty mafia boss and Mark Wahlberg as the vulgar comic relief, and you have yourself a thrilling movie.
But that wasn't all it took to make "The Departed" a success. The film is very well-written (thanks to writer William Monohan). Featuring captivating dialogue and a clever -- though at times elusive -- plot, this is a mature movie about deception and survival in the crime world.
DiCaprio plays Billy Costigan, a street-smart, high-tempered South Boston cop who goes undercover and joins the Irish mafia to retrieve information for the state police.
Damon plays Colin Sullivan, a ruthless member of the Irish mafia who gets a job in the police department's Special Investigations Unit to keep an eye on his state enemies.
The plot revolves around both of these rats' vital efforts to stay alive and above suspicion while carrying out their orders. Tensions are high and deception awaits discovery as the two moles, Costigan and Sullivan, seek out each other's identity.
Director Martin Scorsese ("Gangs of New York," "The Aviator") appears well-versed in the elements that make up a crime thriller.
Set in the streets of South Boston, the serious East Coast accents, rapid plot and incessant murders that take place as a result of lies and deception keep this movie on pace for its thriller status.
The suspense may be intense and the story line cruelly entrancing, but hilarious subtleties make this crime-police-mafia-thriller seem at times to just be a ridiculous joke. Wahlberg, who plays police investigator Dignam, has a keen interest in profanity that he never fails to use against anyone who even has the potential of challenging him.
Nicholson is more bizarre than ever in his role as Frank Costello, the leader of the Irish mafia and a nutcase who appears at bars with bloody arms and careless grin plastered onto his guiltless face. His close-up rat impression alone gives substantial reason to see this movie.
In one scene, when Nicholson waves around a severed hand in front of DiCaprio, one cannot help but snicker, hand over mouth in horror and in humor.
Though the movie does earn its R rating with strong language and frequent murders, its strong character study brings the otherwise intangible plot to a more personal level.
A movie viewer may not relate to the obvious insanity of Costello's cavalier character, but Costigan's troubled life and his questions of morality are far more understandable.
Costigan finds himself unable to deal with the immoral decisions of the mafia, yet he is forced to feign accord, as he cannot reveal his true identity.
He nearly reaches the point of a complete breakdown several times as he struggles to be the genuine person he needs to be to maintain his sanity.
His trust in everyone around him falters, and rightfully so, as he questions Oliver Queenan, the head of the police department, played by Martin Sheen. "I mean honestly, do you want them to chop me up and feed me to the poor, is that what you guys want?" he asks.
The decision to cast DiCaprio as the so-called good guy and Damon as the bad guy is unexpected, though logical all the same. Their double identities cross each other in a mystification that cleverly keeps the audience dubious as to whether there is a definite good guy at all.
The lack of complete closure may or may not be satisfactory as one leaves the theater still questioning the identities of characters and their true intentions.
Grade: B+
Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 551-1918 or mbeidelman@scu.edu.