'The Departed' is intensely awesome cat-and-mouse crime thriller

Just the other day, I furthered my project of watching all of the Academy Award winners for Best Picture when I re-watched the 2006 winner, “The Departed.”

Many of you will remember this intensely awesome crime movie, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin. It was directed by Martin Scorsese, who received an Academy Award for Best Director for his work on the film.

Set in Boston, the movie centers in large part on mobster Frank Costello (played by Nicholson), who arranges to have a mole (played by Matt Damon) planted as an officer inside the upper levels of the Massachusetts State Police force. At the same time, Boston city police plant an undercover officer (played by DiCaprio) in Costello’s neighborhood in hopes that he’ll be able to infiltrate the mob boss’ inner circle. Eventually, both sides figure out what’s going on and what follows is an intense sequence of cat-and-mouse events in which all sides try to figure out the identity of the mole and undercover officer.

One little known fact about this movie is that it’s actually a remake of a 2002 Hong Kong movie called “Infernal Affairs,” making “The Departed” the only remake of a foreign film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Another little known fact about “The Departed” is that it was produced by the Plan B production company, which is owned by Brad Pitt and his then-wife, Jennifer Aniston.

“The Departed” was a financial success. It posted gross revenues of $289.8 million against a shooting budget of $90 million.

It also won a bunch of awards, aside from the Academy Awards. It was named Best Film by the Boston Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics, Florida Film Critics, Las Vegas Film Critics, Southeastern Film Critics, St. Louis Gateway Film Critics and Chicago Film Critics. It was also named Best Thriller at the Empire Awards and Best Motion Picture-Drama at the Satellite Awards.

For those of you who enjoyed this movie, you’ll be happy to hear that there are rumors out there about a possible sequel that will focus on the character played by Mark Wahlberg in the original, Boston Police Sergeant Sean Dignam. (It’s said that Wahlberg’s portrayal of this unforgettable character is based on the many police officers who arrested him while he was growing up on the real-life streets Boston.)

I think it’s always interesting to note the other movies that were nominated for Best Picture, that is, the movies that were passed over by “The Departed.” Other movies nominated for Best Picture in 2006 included “Babel,” “Letters from Iwo Jima,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Queen.”

In the end, I really enjoyed re-watching “The Departed.” No matter how many times I watch it, it never gets old, and I’m always drawn in by the story and the strong characters. If you’ve never seen this movie then you are missing out on a great experience.

From here, it’s on to the 2005 winner, “Crash,” which was directed by Paul Haggis and starred Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon and Brendan Fraser.