Today’s movie of the day is 2006’s The Departed, a gangster movie directed by Martin Scorsese. It was both a popular and critical success, winning multiple Oscars in 2007. Although the story is fictional, some of the characters are based on real people, such as the mobsters of the Boston Winter Hill Gang.

The movie centers around the things that happen after mobster Frank Costello plants a mole (a gangster named Sullivan) within the Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts State Police places a mole (an officer named Costigan) within Costello’s gang. As the two moles angle to do their jobs, both the mob and the police realize that there are double agents in their ranks, beginning a dangerous game of cat and mouse on both sides to catch them. The task of maintaining their secret identities in the midst of such danger begins to take a toll on both Costigan and Sullivan. As events spiral out of control, there are manipulations and betrayals all around, and the movie ends in a bloodbath that sees many of the main characters dead.The movie has a very high score on Rotten Tomatoes. Part of the reason why the movie rang so true to viewers is the fact that one of the technical consultants was a former Massachusetts police officer who had gone undercover as a mobster. Today, The Departed is widely considered to be one of Scorsese’s better gangster flicks.