Release Year: 2006

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Director: Martin Scorsese

Writer: William Monahan

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson

We hope you like Boston accents.

We also hope you like star-studded casts and award-winning movies. Yeah, the combination of Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a handful of Oscars means that The Departed doesn't really need an introduction.

But how about a quick recap?

We're in Southie (South Boston), where Irish mob boss Frank Costello lives. Frank has always wanted to leave a legacy, but he has no sons, so he takes a young kid named Colin Sullivan under his wing and raises him to become his personal spy in the Massachusetts police force. Later, Frank takes on another "son": Billy Costigan, who turns out to be an actual undercover police agent working against Frank. What ensues is an intense drama that involves Costello, Billy, and Colin all trying to figure each other out—and leaving a long trail of bodies while they're at it.

Just a regular ol' rom-com.

But the star of the show? We'd say it's Boston. (And those accents. Swoon/gross, depending who you ask.) 

So try to forget that this is all based on a true story (hello, Whitey Bulger), and get ready to pahk the cah in cinematic history.

You know all about the American Dream: someone from a poor background works really hard, makes a lot of money, and becomes a big success in life. 

Got it.

But we learn in The Departed  that not everyone's chasing the American Dream according to the American Law.

Frank Costello's rule? "No one gives it to you. You have to take it." 

And boy does he mean it: the guy spends most of the movie covered in the blood of people who've gotten in his way. He's willing to destroy anyone who gets between him and power.

So...is it still the American Dream when you're betraying, lying, and brutally murdering? 

Seriously: we're asking.