Matt Damon: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Colin Sullivan - The Departed

The Departed is so often overlooked because this was the movie Scorsese won the Oscar for, not Goodfellas or Taxi Driver or Raging Bull or The Aviator or Gangs Of New York or The King Of Comedy, but that kinda ignores that it’s still a great movie from a great director.

And he gets some great performances out of a very impressive cast. You obviously have Nicholson going full-Nicholson and Wahlberg full-Wahlberg, but as the movie’s raht Damon’s an unnervingly calm counterpoint to DiCaprio’s manic cahp. It's a pretty chilled take for much of the film - hiding in the police is less fraught than the other way round - but as the truth of the whole operation becomes clear, Sullivan becomes increasingly troubled.

The real meat’s saved for the final scenes - how pathetic he is when beaten down by Leo and that final acceptance as Wahlberg blasts him away. Just cut away before your mate can scream “the rat symbolises obviousness”.