Martin Scorsese has been looking for his next buzz inspiring movie since 1995’s Casino. Sure, he’s had plenty of good movies (Gangs of New York, The Aviator), but nothing that matched the exhilarating excitement of the previously mentioned Casino, and Goodfellas.

Well, good news. Scorsese has created easily his most gritty and violent tale in 15 years with the Hong Kong adaptation of 2002’s Internal Affairs, with The Departed. The story is a twisting and scheming plot which starts with Boston mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) finding a young Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), whom he grooms from his pre-teen years to one day become the mole for him in the police force. Sullivan goes to college, and becomes a star in the Massachusetts State Police. Meanwhile, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) has led a not so charmed life on his way to his interview with the State Police. Upon a very heated interview, the State Police offers Costigan an undercover job to get inside of Costello’s crime syndicate. As you can tell, it is only a matter of time before paranoia about the rat of Costello’s crew comes into play.

In The Departed, Scorsese plays to his strengths. He tells a blistering tale of life with the Irish Mafia in south Boston. When dealing in stories with organized crime, Scorsese can really do no wrong. The storytelling and plot (some of the credit has to go to the writers of the original Hong Kong movie) is simply masterful here, and make the 150 minutes seem far shorter than that.

After years of roles of being old men who try to find themselves, Nicholson has his best role in at least a decade as the amoral Costello and shows that he can still act as evil as the younger villains today. Damon is strong as usual as the morally torn Sullivan, and DiCaprio sells the role of the bewildered Costigan very well. Meanwhile, Mark Wahlberg does an exceptional job playing a fiery and often profane and unlikable fellow State Trooper.

I am sure there are Academy Award nominations in order for Scorsese and a few of the actors for their performances in this captivating flick. I am pretty sure that out of all the movies released this past weekend, The Departed is the most exciting and the most likely to receive nominations come award season.

It’s either that, or Employee of the Month. You make your pick…

GRADE: A