The Departed

"Cops or criminals. When you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?"

2006 2h 31m EN

🙌

8.2

BANGER

🔥

91%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

8.5

IMDB

★8.2TMDB · 16,755🍅91%Rotten Tomatoes●85Metacritic★8.5IMDB · 1,551,506

DramaThrillerCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

“Cops or criminals. When you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?”

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Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio
Billy
Matt Damon
Colin
Jack Nicholson
Costello
Mark Wahlberg
Dignam
Martin Sheen
Queenan
Ray Winstone
Mr. French
Vera Farmiga
Madolyn
Anthony Anderson
Brown

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: William Monahan, Felix Chong Man-Keung, Alan Mak Siu-Fai
Languages: English, Cantonese
Countries: Hong Kong, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 151 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $90M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Cantonese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Hong Kong, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Martin Scorsese, shot by Michael Ballhaus. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Howard Shore. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Martin Scorsese directs. Michael Ballhaus behind the camera. Howard Shore scores. Thelma Schoonmaker cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Hong Kong, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Cantonese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 151 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Mid-budget at $90M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
3Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.
4Released 20 years ago.
5Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Cantonese.
6International production across 2 countries: Hong Kong, United States of America.
7Directed by Martin Scorsese, shot by Michael Ballhaus. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Howard Shore. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Thelma Schoonmaker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Cops or criminals. When you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?".
12IMDB entry: tt0407887 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1316,755 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
14Classified under 23 themes, including "police", "undercover", "boston, massachusetts", "gangster".

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
Original score: Howard Shore
Editing: Thelma Schoonmaker
Production design: Kristi Zea
Costume design: Sandy Powell
Makeup / hair: Kay Georgiou
VFX supervisor: Robert Legato
Sound: Tom Fleischman
Stunt coordinator: G.A. Aguilar
Runtime: 151 min · 2h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $90,000,000
Box office: $291,465,000
Return: 324% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Departed (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 85/100
IMDB rating: 8.5/10 · 1,551,506 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 4 Oscars. 100 wins & 141 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Best Director
Academy Award for Best Film Editing
Amanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
Academy Award for Best Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Martin Scorsese

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-07-21
★ 10/10
I decided to celebrate the Summer Solstice by watching 'The Departed'. Don't ask me why. I had previously loved the Hong Kong-made 'Infernal Affairs' trilogy on which this is based. Usually I hate when international masterpieces get remade, but this was a sterling exception. This was controversial when it took in a cartload of Oscars, particularly finally a directorial nod for Scorsese, but don't be misled--it's easily one of his finest works. This is my Golden Rule on both remakes in general, but especially American remakes of international (particularly foreign-language) great films. When in doubt, check the label: 1. Director? (check) 2. Cast? (check) 3. Script? (check) 'The proof is in the pudding!'
John Chard2020-04-25
★ 8/10
The only one that can do what I do is me. Lot of people had to die for me to be me. You wanna be me? The Departed is directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan, Alan Mak and Felix Chong. It stars Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, Mark Rolston and Alec Baldwin. Music is by Howard Shore and cinematography by Michael Ballhaus. An Irish gang in South Boston becomes aware there is a rat in their midst, whilst the police force has a mole to contend with - with each one trying to out each other before the other does... Martin Scorsese remakes Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs (2002) for the English speaking world, and promptly bagged his first Best Director Oscar in the process. It's a thrilling picture packed with suspense and edginess, a psychological gangster picture driven by two men leading double lives that is leading them to the abyss. When the violence comes it erupts in thunderous strokes, all while the narrative pulses with paranoia. There are some irksome contrivances, but with a uniformly strong set of turns from the cast, great musical accompaniments, and a director returning to gangster form, The Departed is a sure fire winner. 8.5/10
CinemaSerf2024-08-06
★ 7/10
I think this might be my favourite performance from Leonardo DiCaprio as he takes on the mantle of undercover cop "Billy". On a perilous arms-length basis from his boss (Martin Sheen) pretty much from the start of his career, he must undergo the violent perils of prison so he can convincingly infiltrate the gang of hoodlum "Costello" (Jack Nicholson) who runs the crime syndicate in the city of Boston somewhat enigmatically. Meantime, we also meet "Colin" (Matt Damon) who is in a mirror-image position with the State police. As the situation in the city becomes even more dangerous it becomes clear to both the cops and to "Costello" that there is a fly in their respective ointment, and those men's positions become even more hazardous. Now each must try to identify the other before the entire house of cards comes crashing down in a blaze of gunfire. If we add to the mix the fiery and determined detective "Dignam" (Mark Wahlberg) and a bit of love interest from "Madolyn" (Vera Farminga) and we get an engagingly complex thriller that unravels cleverly and slowly over 2½ hours generating a proper sense of menace. Nicholson is on superb form as the maniacal boss whom you just know probably isn't trustworthy - even for those his own side, and the focussed efforts from Leo and Damon deliver well to build the tension effectively. I liked the writing - and the paucity of it. There is comedy here, there is threat here but there is very little extraneous verbiage. The characters have a visceral quality to them that, as the story develops, really does immerse you in their tawdry and shady goings-on. I can't say that I loved the ending - somehow it seemed a little bit rushed, but there's certainly vindication there for someone... This is the kind of drama that thrives by knitting the myriad of threads together without having to faff about with timelines, loops, or repetition. It's a story that evolves in a plausibly hazardous yet characterful fashion and if you can catch it on a big screen, then it's highly recommended. Scorsese - indeed, just about everyone, at their best.