Kickass Movie Scene List #62: The Departed

The Departed is one of my favorite movies. Nicholson is a bit overbearing at times, but everyone else in the movie does work (including and almost especially Mark Wahlberg, who - Boogie Nights excepted - is usually on my "must avoid" list). The basic plot for those who haven't seen it, is that organized crime has a mole in the police, and the police have a mole in organized crime - simple setup, loads of tension.

Today's scene comes from the most tense scene of all of them.

On an unrelated note, I haven't seen Infernal Affairs, which The Departed is based off of. If anyone's seen it and has an opinion about it, I'm all ears.




Sullivan Calls Costigan

Costigan's two closest allies - the ones who know who he really is - are dead and disappeared. Clearly, he's seen better days. On the other side, Sullivan is within spitting distance of determining the identity of the law's mole within Costello's mob, but is denied access.

Bad for the two leads, but since Sullivan has Queenan's phone, it's good for us. The phone is the one Queenan used to contact his inside man, so all that remains is to see who picks up.

When the phone goes off, the look on Costigan's face is priceless. The nearly dialog-free moments that follow are even better.