The Departed (2006)

Premise: Boston Mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) gets a rat (Matt Damon) in the state police at the same time that the staties manage to get a rat (Leonardo DiCaprio) into Frank's crew. Sullivan (Damon) is tapped to track Frank's rat down, while Costigan (DiCaprio) attempts to flush the snitch out.

And you know who else is in this movie? Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg as DiCaprio's supervisors, Alec Baldwin as Damon's supervisor, and Ray Winstone as Frank's no.2, Mr. French. You guys, I love Ray Winstone. He kicks ass.

Ooo, and Special Agent Charlie Brown! It's too bad you guys don't know that ref. And Anthony Anderson! And Kevin Corrigan! As Em pointed out, who isn't in this movie?

Although I do not have confirmation, I believe this movie occurs in five acts instead of the standard three. Or, you could say that it has three acts as well as a prologue and epilogue. I say this because, as a viewer, I could feel the gears shirt between the acts, much to my delight.

Act 1: Setting the stage. At this point you pretty much nod your head and wait for director Martin Scorsese, in his infinite wisdom, to situate you. You pick up as much as you can (for there are clues to be had), but you mostly sit back and relax. You're in the hands of a master, right?

Act 2: And, by golly, he's going to set that scene. He's going to set this premise up like no premise has ever been set up before. You think about attempted Boston accents with varying degrees of success. You commend Nicholson for not bothering. You note Nicholson isn't playing Nicholson, and you appreciate Scorsese for that tender mercy.

Act 3: You lose complete track of the movie. You know who's a good guy and who's a bad guy and you are following the plot, but you find yourself wondering what's happening. As in, what's going on around here? Turns out Scorsese is lulling you into a false sense of security, however, as the movie hits a turning point (you'll know if the instant you see it). The action starts ramping up, hard, and the tension hits 11. And never comes back down. Thank goodness . . .

Act 4: Because it is on. And it's going to be messy. Scorsese excels in telling raw, human, American stories, and this one, although adapted from a trio of flicks from Hong Kong, is no exception. People make decisions, often the wrong ones, and those decisions always have consequences. Scorsese's lens spares no one from this fact. It was as Act 4 came to a close that I started to giggle maniacally because this movie, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, had seeped into my very bones. Of course, this meant that I knew what had to happen next.

Act 5: It came to pass. I knew it could only go down this way for some time, I knew who would pull the final trigger and against whom for a long time, long before I knew who would be left standing at the end. This act is only a scene long, which is why it may be better to look at this film as three acts + prologue + epilogue. By the time Scorsese hits his final shot, as groan-inducing as it may seem, you don't mind because he's earned it. It's not annoying - it's hilarious.

DiCaprio continues to delight me as adult player who puts so much intensity and vulnerability into his roles. His ferrety movements and red-rimmed eyes at his first meeting with Dignam (Wahlberg) and Queenan (Sheen) is just the beginning. It's great that he's found a director willing to push him as further each time they collaborate.

I may not like Damon, but he makes a great prick. So smug, with the intelligence and the confidence and the inseparability.

But the best thing about this movie, perhaps the best thing about many of Scorsese's movies, is that it's not about good versus evil. There's no triumph. Instead, it's about achieving equilibrium. It's about symmetry. Things have a way of evening out. Victories are small, and they don't last. The fight does. So you fight. Scorsese gets that. A-