Infernal Affairs, a Hong Kong cops-and-thieves melodrama from a few years ago, gets the American remake treatment from none other than Martin Scorsese in The Departed. The original movie was solid, a showcase for its two stars Andy Lau and Tony Leung, but perhaps more notorious for its plot concept: both the police and the criminal organization have a mole in the other's midst, and each one's job, endangered by the presence of the other, eventually involves rooting the other one out. Personally, I kept wondering why no one had thought to film such a story a long time ago; just the same, Infernal Affairs, as competently made as it was, could've used a stronger injection of cinematic attiude (it would've been right up the alley of early John Woo). Without it, the movie was mostly notable for its plot and a strong performance by Leung in particular.

Scorsese's involvement with an across-the-Pacific version had a lot of potential, and I'd say he lives up to it. It would've been hard for anyone to go wrong with the cast he rounded up: Leonardo DiCaprio is the Leung character, the cop who goes undercover; Matt Damon is in for Lau as the criminal posing as a police officer; and Jack Nicholson gets to live it up as the crime boss. Meanwhile, the supporting cast includes Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and Vera Farmiga. This isn't small potatoes.

Yet The Departed is undeniably Scorsese -- it's a muscular perpetual-motion machine with angry performances, dirty violence, and a rock soundtrack always setting the right mood for the scene. Scorsese has also shifted the ethnic context specifically to the Irish, with Irish cops vs. the Irish mafia in Boston. There's a concern here about the cultural self-destruction that comes with belligerent ethnic pride; it's a particularly Irish brand of cops-and-thieves angst, interesting because it's considerably colder than the Hong Kong variety.

The main difference is shown through the fake cop character. In Infernal Affairs, much of the themes involved how being a mole in the other's membership caused lines to blur, so much so to the point that Lau's character begins to have a change of heart. There is empathy for the other's situation. But in The Departed, the lines remain distinct, and Damon's character continues to be cocky with his comparatively cushy situation as an upwardly mobile high-ranking officer. If his true loyalty is ever tempted to waver, it'll be for more selfish reasons than development of an understanding for a policeman's duty.

Meanwhile, being amongst the crooks never degrades DiCaprio's character's sense of justice, which is made more interesting since he comes from a family of criminals. Yet, his drive becomes one of survival more than anything else. Of all the strong performances in this movie, DiCaprio may actually leave the greatest impression -- while Damon and Nicholson get to play relatively (and I emphasize "relatively") relaxed people, DiCaprio's on the edge of bursting the entire time, looking more and more like someone who's about to fall apart. His situation creates the most tension, and that tension is not only held throughout the film but built up slowly to a level of intense discomfort.

Well, this may be tempered a bit if you've seen Infernal Affairs -- the stories, though very different in tone, are remarkably similar in plot points (only the very last scene sharply diverges). But familiarity with the plot doesn't drastically change the experience of watching The Departed, an unrelenting look at the dangerously competitive nature of Irish toughs who ultimately get what they want and where they want to be by putting on a show of manly pride and force to a fault. Vulnerability has no place here, where any misstep could lead to fatal punishment, yet vulnerability pushes through, just waiting to reveal humans under the facades. This movie's a pressure cooker, a mean and stylish show about the tragedies that result from such neverending contests of one-upmanship.

(Released by Warner Bros. Pictures and rated "R" for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.