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Review by Jennifer Pflughaupt

Two Boston State Police men, Colin Sullivan (Damon) and Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), just graduated the academy and are sent on their way to the State Police Department. One not knowing the other, they end up on completely different ends of the spectrum in law enforcement for the unit. Sullivan is assigned as a detective and Costigan goes deep cover due to his shady background and connections, but both aim at thwarting the Boston Irish mob led by Frank Costello who is none other than Jack Nicholson.

  “The Departed” is the whole movie experience package. What worked for this film was everything. Finally, you have an outstanding cast, a brilliant director, and a great story line. The viewers will get a sense of having the whole story presented to them, which in this day of film making seems to be a lost art. No tricks were being played on the audience. No weird twist. This is a straight up good cop / bad cop / mob story. Even though the film is quite long, 149 minutes to be exact, it moves at a steady pace and unlike a lot of other mob films with numerous characters, it easy to follow along and hard to get lost in the plot. Along with the headlining cast, the supporting cast was outstanding as well and probably one of my favorite aspects of “The Departed”. Alec Baldwin is ingenuious with his wit and physical humor, whereas Mark Wahlberg stands out as the hilarious and shocking smart- mouthed know-it-all.

  The most surprising of them all was Jack Nicholson though. I cannot say I am a huge fan, or that was until “The Departed”. He was absolutely perfect for the role of Frank Costello. His style exuded through his character and it gave the movie a little extra sexiness. This film is full of violence and unpleasing language, so if you don’t like that – don’t see it. But, if you like mob stories and GREAT entertainment, “The Departed” is for you. Overall, I have to give “The Departed” 5 bullets to the head out of 5.

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Jennifer is a freelance film critic with an overloaded life. She has a rock star husband, a 2 year old daughter, a military career in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, and she is also a full time student at UNT working towards getting her degree in kicking butt and taking names. Some of her favorite films are “Heart of the Game”, “The Lords of Dogtown”, “American History X”, “The Boondock Saints”, “Miss Congeniality”, “The United States of Leland” , “Return to Me” and “Thank You for Smoking”. You can check out her personal information, plus read her writings and reviews on Myspace .