A few months ago, I was finally able to see the crime drama “Infernal Affairs.” Casual movie-goers are not aware that Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” is in fact a remake of the Hong Kong Crime Thriller “Infernal Affairs” which has basically the same plot line, and sense of dread. Scorsese approaches the crime thriller yet again, with his version of the exceptional crime thriller, now set in the mean streets of Boston, and not the murky landscape of Korea. How do these two compare? The story is basically the same. One big crime syndicate, one big police department. Both are at war. In both teams, the plot slowly unveils and we learn that in the syndicate there is a mole from the police department feeding information back to HQ, while there happens to be a mole from the syndicate in power at the police department distorting information.

Who will discover whom first? That’s why “The Departed” and “Infernal Affairs” are so well regarded, folks. And I’ll tell you, it’s not often these days that a remake can be as good as the original. I’m stunned, but then again, this is Scorsese. I may not have enjoyed “The Aviator,” but I’ll be damned if Scorsese doesn’t hit a whopper with a remake that sticks true to the original’s spirit yet sticks to its own terms. Normally an all-star cast would not persuade me to follow suit, but shit—Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, and so on. I just flat out enjoyed “The Departed.” It’s sleek, and just all out a balls to the wall crime flick that’s worthy of most of the praise it’s garnered, particularly in the acting department.There are fantastic performances all around from DiCaprio, to
Wahlberg (!) right down to Ray Winstone who is just frightening as Nicholson’s bodyguard/crony Mr. French.

Scorsese and company keep most of the key sequences that created “Infernal Affairs,” and he does so in his own style from stark colors and complete departures from his usual techniques that turns “The Departed” from another crime thriller to a great neo-noir. “The Departed” will be a completely unpredictable film, and Scorsese displays much more stark realism than Lau and Mak in “Infernal Affairs” presenting truly graphic violence that’s rather effective in the Boston crime landscape. The stand out performance, though, is from Leonardo DiCaprio who is a scene stealer as Billy Costigan, a cop on the inside whose worst enemy is his own psyche and the infatuation for his therapist. DiCaprio is raw here, and really manages to outweigh Damon in every respect.

However, one of the bigger changes that sit well is that Scorsese draws more focus to the crime boss this time around. Where as “Infernal Affairs” was essentially the story of both officers and their lives, Scorsese sets down on them and brings attention to Jack Nicholson’s utterly stunning performance as one of the slimiest, most depraved characters to grace the big screen, Frank Costello, who many will find impossible to like. He’s perverted, disgusting, sadistic, cowardly, and just the pure embodiment of evil, something Nicholson has an easy time playing. Eric Tsang was equally slimy in his role as Hon Sam, the cowardly triad boss, and Scorsese really has the right ideas throughout his vision of this excellent story, with an even better resolution from the former.

One of the reasons why I didn’t completely flip for “Infernal Affairs” was because we were given such an excellent plot, yet there was hardly any sense of pure gripping tension that kept me glued to my seat. It just wasn’t as engrossing as I’d originally hoped, which is why I prayed “The Departed” would have improved upon that, and the utterly abrupt climax. True, “Infernal Affairs” is only one part in a trilogy, but the directors rely on pure symbolism that didn’t completely make its point. With “The Departed,” the complete tense of atmosphere still isn’t there. True, there’s tension, but there’s no edge of seat moments, especially since the grit that Scorsese excels in with “Mean Streets,” and “Goodfellas” was noticeably missing. It could be a number of reasons why, but Scorsese’s touch was gone, and I didn’t feel swelled with the imminent danger that his previous efforts brought to the table.

Meanwhile, “The Departed” takes a very long time to get to the actual point of the story. Whereas the original instantly had both moles performing their work, one feeding information to the authorities, the other distorting it from the authorities, and we’re forced to sit through a rather long investigation in the first twenty minutes, that ultimately doesn’t have much relevance until the climax, and even then it’s just not interesting. Sadly, they cut many of the fascinating plot devices from the former film. The Morse code feeding of information through a cast arm, and particularly the Triad Mole’s penchant for stereo systems that played a large role in the original. Without that sense of character element, the big reveal in “The Departed” doesn’t pack as much of a punch.

I’m happy to say that both “Infernal Affairs,” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” are gangster flicks with top notch acting, and ace direction. They’re not without their caveats, but it’s so rare we get great crime thrillers these days. “The Departed” isn’t best picture material, but it’s still a very good film.

• Even though "The Departed" is set in Boston, Scorsese filmed most of it in New York, due to the 15 percent tax break.

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