the departed

this was a crackling good crime drama where parallel moles infiltrate the police and the mob in boston. i hated ‘the aviator’ scorcese’s last film with its pompous nostalgia for a pain-in the-ass who i could not care less about, but this was so much fun. the drama of deception and secrecy goes by so fast i did not have any time to even consider the plausibility of it all. as if it mattered. from the recruitment scene in the beginning to the crazy betrayal shoot out at the end the movie was relentless- not letting go of the tension even for a moment as men get brutally shot in the head, cell phones form part of complicated strategies and the two central figures fall for the same woman. matt damon as the slimy mole in the police and leonardo dicaprio as the police agent in the mob are both great to watch, but jack nicholson as the gangster reprises his leer and snarl and hams it to the hilt. and will it not stop shocking me that mark wahlberg can act?