Another great Scorsese epic

THE DEPARTED — *** 1/2 — Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson; rated R (profanity, violence, vulgarity, drugs, sex, gore, torture, racial epithets, nudity).

If there's any one type of material Martin Scorsese does well, it's the sprawling crime epic. He's already had success with the 1973 film "Mean Streets," 1990's "GoodFellas" and 1995's "Casino," and now makes a welcome return to form with his latest, "The Departed."

The Hong Kong film that this tense, intelligent crime-thriller remakes — 2002's "Infernal Affairs" — is a good little movie. But Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan broadened the material until it took on the proportions and form of a pseudo-Shakespearean tragedy.

It features strong performances by one of the best ensemble casts in recent memory. But be warned that the film's R rating is appropriate, since it contains very strong language and violent content. That is to be expected from a Scorsese movie, though.

"The Departed" is essentially a modern-day Bostonian version of "King Lear," with Jack Nicholson taking on the central role. He plays Frank Costello, a local crime lord closely tied to two young Massachusetts police troopers.

There's the charismatic Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), who's quickly rising up the ranks but is also in Frank's back pocket (Frank has Colin warn him whenever investigators get too close).

Then there's Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), who's been assigned to an undercover unit and has infiltrated Costello's operations.

As expected, both cops have their allegiances tested, especially when they begin to suspect their dual identities may have been compromised.

The cast is solid, from top to bottom. In addition to the three leads, the supporting performers include Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg as Sullivan and Costigan's fellow police officers, Ray Winstone as Frank's chief enforcer, and Vera Farmiga as a psychologist who becomes involved with both the conflicted cops.

Scorsese and Monahan smartly mix in some darkly humorous bits to contrast with the otherwise deadly serious ones (Wahlberg and Baldwin shoulder most of the comedic load).

The dramatic duties are divided equally among DiCaprio, Damon and Nicholson, who narrowly avoids self-parody.

"The Departed" is rated R for strong sexual language (including frequent profanity, sexual slang terms and references), strong scenes of graphic violence (shootings and vehicular violence), drug content (cocaine use ), simulated sex and other sexual contact (mostly overhead), fairly graphic gore, a brief scene of torture, racial epithets and ethnic slurs, and nudity (and nude drawings). Running time: 149 minutes.

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