1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- The Departed

#1083- The Departed (2006)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson
Directed by: Martin Scorsese


Plot Summary: Before graduating from the police academy, Billy Costigan is recruited by Capt. Queenan and Staff Sgt. Dignam to go undercover in the the Irish-American mob in South Boston. Billy infiltrates the mob, led by Frank Costello, and keeps a low profile, until he learns that that one of Costello's men is working within the Special Investigations Unit of the Massachusetts State Police. The other mole, Staff Sgt. Colin Sullivan, is one of Costello's most trusted men, and makes it his mission to find the "rat" within the mob before he is found out first. In order for Billy to get out alive and complete his undercover work, he must find the other mole, while also protecting his own identity.


My introduction to the gangster genre was thanks to The Departed. My dad took me to see it when it first came out, and I was hooked instantly. What got me invested in the film was its stellar cast which created memorable characters to study throughout the film. Since seeing it, pop culture has accepted the film as a film to discuss when talking about the greatest films of the 2000s. I even have an inside joke with a certain best friend of mine where we yell "ARE YOU A CAWP!?!?!" at each other. Clearly, The Departed is a film that has been popular since its release, but does it hold up in comparison to director Martin Scorsese's OTHER mob classics like Goodfellas, let alone other mob movies? After getting into the gangster genre this month, my question for re-watching The Departed was even if it is a film I love, does that make it a good film in the realm of the gangster flick.

The Departed has an all-star class which begins with Leonardo DiCaprio as William "Billy" Costigan, Jr., the film's main protagonist. Billy is an excellent main character to follow because he is more of an anti-hero than anything. He makes mistakes, he can be rude and unlikable to many people, but there is a sense that he wants to do something honorable. He is able to boost credibility of being in the mob is by dropping out of the police academy and spending two years in jail, utilizing his family ties to organized crime as a catalyst. Under the terms of his probation, Billy is sent to see Dr. Madolyn Madden, played by Vera Farmiga, for therapy. It is this relationship that is one of the most interesting, as Madolyn is the character that sees both sides of Billy, the tough mob member that he is pretending to be and the honorable man that wants to serve for the law. Billy also has a ton of respect for Capt. Oliver Charles Queenan, played by Martin Sheen, whom he looks at as a mentor figure and is also the man that recruited Billy to infiltrate Costello's mob.

Matt Damon plays Staff Sgt. Colin Sullivan, Costello's mole in the Massachusetts State Police. The beautiful irony of Sullivan is that he works for the Special Investigations Unit that focuses on organized crime, the very thing he is doing himself. Even if the audience can see all of Sullivan's lies displayed, that doesn't mean the other characters can and it is frustrating when they cannot, which makes Sullivan all the more detestable. When Sullivan succeeds, the audience shouldn't be able to stand it. When he begins to have a steady relationship with his girlfriend, Madolyn (and yes, that does mean a love triangle with them and Billy), the audience should roll their eyes and hope he is caught in a lie. When a character begins to wise up to Sullivan's lies, the audience is happy that this scumbag could be found out. Simply put, Matt Damon plays Sullivan as the kind of bad guy that you want to get caught and get what's coming to him.

Mob leader Frank Costello is played by Jack Nicholson. Costello is a memorable mobster character because of his wide-eyed personality, which is thanks to Jack Nicholson's trademark neurotic persona. Nicholson is able to transform himself into a character that is calm and full of mobster wisdom in some scenes, but can transition into a psychotic and ruthless madman in other scenes. No matter what type of personality Costello has, Nicholson has enough charisma to pull the audience in and become invested in his character, and more importantly, have our attention focused on every word he says because when he speaks, we know it will be something worth listening to.

Rounding out the main cast is Mark Wahlberg as Staff Sgt. Sean Dignam. Dignam is the character primarily responsible for the film's comedy, providing numerous memorable lines throughout the film thanks to Wahlberg's timing and ability to sound tough and sarcastic. Dignam is the glue that holds the characters in the police force together, as he is very hard-nosed with Billy, hostile with Sullivan (Dignam suspects that he's the mole working with Costello), has a mutual respect for Capt. Queenan, and a comedic rivalry with Capt. George Ellerby, played by Alec Baldwin. Dignam is one of the most memorable characters in The Departed and that has to do with his ability to work off a majority of the other main characters.

The Departed is another film on the famed résumé of director Martin Scorsese that has helped establish his name as one of the greatest filmmakers of the modern era. The film has often been put up in comparison with Goodfellas over which is the better Scorsese gangster film. Whether or not it is better is hard to determine, since it is a different type of gangster film told through the familiar style of the director. So far in the gangster movies I've seen, they are the types of movies where the audience is able to root for the "bad guys," but in The Departed, the lines between what makes a good guy and a bad guy are blurred and are not determined on their profession. As is the case with Billy, a man of the law pretending to be a criminal mobster, and with Sullivan, a man within law enforcement that has been trained to contribute to organized crime. It isn't as easy for the audience to label "good guy" from "bad guy" based on what side of the line they are on, and becomes a study of an individual's personal character and what they value, and to me, that's the beauty of the film.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Departed is a unique modern entry in the gangster genre that spends just as much time with the law enforcement as it does with the mob, while also looking at many incarnations of both working within the other. With an amazing cast and a suspenseful narrative told by an iconic filmmaker, it is a film that I highly recommend watching and owning in your collection.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review

The Departed and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.