The Best Picture-winning crime thriller The Departed finally won Martin Scorsese that Best Director Oscar he'd been deserving for so long, and the movie is a superb blend of outstanding acting, writing, direction and cinematography. As a remake of classic Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, many viewers certainly knew what was coming, though may have expected that Hollywood's executive meddling might have resulted in something a little less brutal and downbeat. Though the very end of the movie deviates from the original conclusion (here, Matt Damon's corrupt cop Colin Sullivan ends up on the wrong end of Mark Wahlberg's gun), but the most shocking moment remains in tact, as Leonardo DiCaprio's undercover cop Billy Costigan takes Sullivan hostage and drags him into an elevator. After a short discussion, the elevator door opens, and as Costigan goes to step out, he's promptly shot in the head by a cop waiting on the other side, as the gory remains of his head splat onto the wall behind him. A shocking moment if you didn't know it was coming and a nerve-wracking one if you did, Scorsese delivered one of the biggest "Holy s***!" moments of the last decade with this perfectly-pitched kill.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
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