It seems oh so easy to slide into the comfortable position of mediocrity when it comes to making movies.  The Departed takes a few steps towards greatness and then stops to take a nap.  There are good elements to this movie to be sure, as the acting and writing of Costigan and the story surrounding him and Sullivan.  All of these things make this movie good, even great at times.  But there are many mistakes this movie made.  I would like to take a moment to say just how underwhelming the mob appears in this movie.  In other crime flicks, the mob is imposing and ruthless, but here it just seems like a dozen goons collecting rent.  While I enjoy Nicholson, his character is pretty terrible in this film all things considered.  With these mistakes, along with a few other hiccups, this movie falls short of what it could have been.  I would hesitantly recommend it.