“I don’t wanna be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” That’s the great line that comes from an Irish mobster named Frank Costello (played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson), who ruled the South Boston section of Boston streets and dominated the law by his own style. The kind of man who gave birth to corruption and made the society became restless. But in order to do that, he had to make some people happy.There’re two men who graduated from Massachusetts State Police Academy, but took different sides of the law after graduation. Young officer Billy Costigan (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who came from a broken family became a perfect mole to infiltrate the Irish mob. He worked undercover on a mission to squeeze as much information as he could to bring down Costello and his crew. Captain Oliver Queenan (played by Martin Sheen) and Sergeant Dignam (played by Mark Wahlberg) considered Costigan’s crooked family background as one of the main reason why he’s the right one for the job. They played good cop bad cop kinda things and pushed Costigan so that he could do his job right.
One thing they didn’t know, Frank Costello also found a boy named Colin Sullivan (played by Matt Damon) and made him ready for a job to become his eyes and ears inside the police department. Sullivan joined the Massachusetts State Police Academy and graduated at the same time as Costigan, under a watchful eye of Costello. Sullivan and Costello became very close. He provided all information about the police activities so that Costello could roam the streets freely. Nobody suspected Sullivan who acted as Costello’s informant.
So the two undercover men who graduated from the same academy took a different path and performed double life at their own risks. Costigan had to experience the life like most of criminals to become a perfect mole and to infiltrate Costello’s ranks. He was put in jail and went through tough processes like any other criminals did. The only people on earth who knew his true identity as undercover cop were Captain Queenan and Sergeant Dignam. On the other hand, Sullivan played a role as a cop with a high rank in the Special Investigation Unit, but actually served as Costello’s spy. The only person who knew his true identity was Costello himself.
Each other had to tread very carefully, trying to cover their true identity, as one single wrong step could mean a death penalty. Things got worse when each side began to smell a “rat” inside each other’s crew, but couldn’t tell which one. Both Costigan and Sullivan tried their best to discover the “rat” in their team. They had to face dangerous situations under pressure from each other’s mastermind.Things got more complicated when Costigan and Sullivan happened to fall in love with the same girl named Madolyn (played by Vera Farmiga). Madolyn was a psychiatrist who worked in the police academy. She met Sullivan first and became lovers. Later on, she moved to live together with Sullivan. Being a psychiatrist for the academy means she had to deal with stressed and under pressured cops who needed treatments. The situation brought Madolyn and Costigan together as he became her patient. He happened to had hard times in keeping himself from loosing his mind. They soon had an affair behind Sullivan who hid a plan on his own.
Things got messy when they got closer and closer to disclose the others’ true identities. The movie had more than one climaxes and you can never guess its ending as you watch them crossed, double-crossed, killed, and be killed. Never know who’s going to die next. The more they made progress, the worst the situation became. If you love surprises and unexpected endings, you’ll love the Departed. They all learned their lesson, “Trust no one”.Ivan the Freelancer
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