'The Departed' is set in South Boston, where the state police force is waging war on organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Costello (Jack Nicholson).
While Billy is quickly gaining Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department as an informer for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit.
Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that there's a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy -- and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.
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Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Unfinished Business of Donnie Brasco
The only real mobster I ever met was a funny little guy named Fred. He was short, stooped and rumpled, with basset-hound eyes and pallid skin. A wise-cracking, kewpie-doll of a guy with a cigarette hanging out of the side of his mouth. Maybe you remember him. Fred Roti, former alderman of the old mobbed-up First Ward. The representative, as Harper's Magazine once described him, of the "Italian business interests" in City Hall.
Freddy liked to hang out at the City Hall press room and share coffee and jokes with the beat reporters. In fact, he was the Art Linkletter of the city council. Freddy thought reporters, just like kids, say the darnedest things!
I happened to be there on the day he asked his legendary question: "So, boys, what should my campaign slogan be this year?"
"Vote for Roti," Bob Davis said without skipping a beat, "and nobody gets hurt!"
Furtive glances. A pause. A long pause. It seemed to get awfully hot all of a sudden, too. And then that old Linkletter look spread slowly across Roti's gnarled face. "You're baaaad," he chortled to relieved laughter all around.
If we're lucky, that's as close as most of us will ever get to an honest-to-goodness wiseguy. But Joe Pistone, a k a Donnie Brasco, has lived in the belly of the beast.
Pistone is the former FBI agent who went undercover as a Mafia soldier for six years and helped cripple the Five Families of New York. He told his story in a best-selling book that later became a movie starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp.
Now, Pistone is back with a sequel. Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business promises to reveal the tales that he couldn't disclose earlier. Unfortunately, it seems more like a ploy to cash in one more time on the Donnie Brasco brand. The book has all the drama of a night out with the boys, reliving the glory days. And it reads with all the charm of a 300-page federal indictment.
And that's a shame, since if you can endure the self-congratulation, insufferable stories about being on the set with Al and Johnny, and a Jack Webb -- just the facts, ma'am! -- style of storytelling, there are some fascinating insights here into what mobsters are really like, and what it takes to bring them down.
The best stories illuminate the moral ambiguity inherent in the double life of an undercover agent. In the name of the law, he has to be ready to break the law. To catch a criminal, he has to risk becoming one.
For the first time, Pistone admits to crimes that would have ended the Donnie Brasco operation if his superiors in the FBI had known about them -- hijackings, burglaries, armed robberies and beatings. "I had to gain the trust of criminals and gangsters," he says, "and there is only one way to do that. You got to do what you got to do."
Pistone tells a chilling story about a capo -- his boss -- ordering him to kill a mob enemy. It's a wiseguy's ultimate test. "The people I had been assigned to infiltrate engaged in murder the way a cabbie goes through a yellow light," Pistone writes. "I had long ago made my decision of what to do when this predictable occasion arose. If Bruno's there, he's gone. If I have to put a bullet in his head, I will."
There is a nagging conflict between what Pistone thinks he can achieve and what his FBI superiors think is reasonable -- and safe.
After blowing one assignment for his mob bosses, Pistone is called to a summit to face the music. He knows the FBI would rather pull the plug on the operation than risk his life. Pistone also knows the basic rule of mob life is "not to rat, and not to run." So he goes, without telling the FBI. "I was finally in so deep I was lying to the FBI by omission," he says. "Because of my job I lied regularly in my personal life to those I was closest to. I was finally in the mud at the deep end."
One reads on in anticipation and, finally, irritation, waiting in vain for more stories packing this kind of tension. The closest he comes is a brief description of how Donnie Brasco was ordered to abort his undercover pose just as he was on the verge of becoming a "made member" of the Bonnano crime family, a decision he describes as having "the keys to the vault and suddenly throwing them away." But there's no elaboration, no sense of what the debate was like, and what was really lost.
Instead, an interminable, mind-numbing timeline of recent mob cases descends into a tirade on a trial in which Pistone claims everyone involved -- wiseguys, investigators and prosecutors -- are angling ineptly for book deals. The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight winds up as The Gang That Couldn't Write Straight.
Thanks to Joe Kolina, a Chicago journalist with a long-standing interest in what Bonnano family soldier Lefty Ruggiero described as "the underworld field."
Freddy liked to hang out at the City Hall press room and share coffee and jokes with the beat reporters. In fact, he was the Art Linkletter of the city council. Freddy thought reporters, just like kids, say the darnedest things!
I happened to be there on the day he asked his legendary question: "So, boys, what should my campaign slogan be this year?"
"Vote for Roti," Bob Davis said without skipping a beat, "and nobody gets hurt!"
Furtive glances. A pause. A long pause. It seemed to get awfully hot all of a sudden, too. And then that old Linkletter look spread slowly across Roti's gnarled face. "You're baaaad," he chortled to relieved laughter all around.
If we're lucky, that's as close as most of us will ever get to an honest-to-goodness wiseguy. But Joe Pistone, a k a Donnie Brasco, has lived in the belly of the beast.
Pistone is the former FBI agent who went undercover as a Mafia soldier for six years and helped cripple the Five Families of New York. He told his story in a best-selling book that later became a movie starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp.
Now, Pistone is back with a sequel. Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business promises to reveal the tales that he couldn't disclose earlier. Unfortunately, it seems more like a ploy to cash in one more time on the Donnie Brasco brand. The book has all the drama of a night out with the boys, reliving the glory days. And it reads with all the charm of a 300-page federal indictment.
And that's a shame, since if you can endure the self-congratulation, insufferable stories about being on the set with Al and Johnny, and a Jack Webb -- just the facts, ma'am! -- style of storytelling, there are some fascinating insights here into what mobsters are really like, and what it takes to bring them down.
The best stories illuminate the moral ambiguity inherent in the double life of an undercover agent. In the name of the law, he has to be ready to break the law. To catch a criminal, he has to risk becoming one.
For the first time, Pistone admits to crimes that would have ended the Donnie Brasco operation if his superiors in the FBI had known about them -- hijackings, burglaries, armed robberies and beatings. "I had to gain the trust of criminals and gangsters," he says, "and there is only one way to do that. You got to do what you got to do."
Pistone tells a chilling story about a capo -- his boss -- ordering him to kill a mob enemy. It's a wiseguy's ultimate test. "The people I had been assigned to infiltrate engaged in murder the way a cabbie goes through a yellow light," Pistone writes. "I had long ago made my decision of what to do when this predictable occasion arose. If Bruno's there, he's gone. If I have to put a bullet in his head, I will."
There is a nagging conflict between what Pistone thinks he can achieve and what his FBI superiors think is reasonable -- and safe.
After blowing one assignment for his mob bosses, Pistone is called to a summit to face the music. He knows the FBI would rather pull the plug on the operation than risk his life. Pistone also knows the basic rule of mob life is "not to rat, and not to run." So he goes, without telling the FBI. "I was finally in so deep I was lying to the FBI by omission," he says. "Because of my job I lied regularly in my personal life to those I was closest to. I was finally in the mud at the deep end."
One reads on in anticipation and, finally, irritation, waiting in vain for more stories packing this kind of tension. The closest he comes is a brief description of how Donnie Brasco was ordered to abort his undercover pose just as he was on the verge of becoming a "made member" of the Bonnano crime family, a decision he describes as having "the keys to the vault and suddenly throwing them away." But there's no elaboration, no sense of what the debate was like, and what was really lost.
Instead, an interminable, mind-numbing timeline of recent mob cases descends into a tirade on a trial in which Pistone claims everyone involved -- wiseguys, investigators and prosecutors -- are angling ineptly for book deals. The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight winds up as The Gang That Couldn't Write Straight.
Thanks to Joe Kolina, a Chicago journalist with a long-standing interest in what Bonnano family soldier Lefty Ruggiero described as "the underworld field."
Capone, Mobsters, Relaxed in Pingree Grove
What would the world’s most famous mobster want with little Pingree Grove?
Well, there were no police, few people were around and everyone in town minded their own business, locals say, making the little village an ideal place for Al Capone to relax.
Resident Alice Thurnau, 86, says Al Capone was even rumored to have owned a house in Pingree Grove. That house no longer stands.
Alice’s husband, Kenneth, 92, also known as “Shorty,” is the oldest resident in town to have been born and raised in Pingree Grove.
He says that when he was 12, he once had a personal encounter with the mobster. One day in 1927, Capone brought his car to the Thurnau Garage, opened by his father, Jack, a one-time mayor of Pingree Grove. Capone had a flat tire and asked Shorty if he’d change it. And after he did, Capone rewarded him with a tip. “It was pretty big,” Shorty said.
But Capone isn’t the only mobster thought to have cooled his heels in Pingree Grove.
Various residents say Sam “Teets” Battaglia, a member of the Chicago Outfit and close associate of Sam Giancana, who died in prison in 1973, maintained a house and farm on Damisch Road. But in Pingree Grove, Battaglia was known for furnishing all of the children with free pop, Alice Thurnau said.
“He wanted to make a good name for himself,” she said.
Thanks to Lenore T. Adkins
Well, there were no police, few people were around and everyone in town minded their own business, locals say, making the little village an ideal place for Al Capone to relax.
Resident Alice Thurnau, 86, says Al Capone was even rumored to have owned a house in Pingree Grove. That house no longer stands.
Alice’s husband, Kenneth, 92, also known as “Shorty,” is the oldest resident in town to have been born and raised in Pingree Grove.
He says that when he was 12, he once had a personal encounter with the mobster. One day in 1927, Capone brought his car to the Thurnau Garage, opened by his father, Jack, a one-time mayor of Pingree Grove. Capone had a flat tire and asked Shorty if he’d change it. And after he did, Capone rewarded him with a tip. “It was pretty big,” Shorty said.
But Capone isn’t the only mobster thought to have cooled his heels in Pingree Grove.
Various residents say Sam “Teets” Battaglia, a member of the Chicago Outfit and close associate of Sam Giancana, who died in prison in 1973, maintained a house and farm on Damisch Road. But in Pingree Grove, Battaglia was known for furnishing all of the children with free pop, Alice Thurnau said.
“He wanted to make a good name for himself,” she said.
Thanks to Lenore T. Adkins
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Untouchables
A depiction of the mob warlord who ruled Prohibition-era Chicago . . . and the law enforcer who vowed to bring him down. Stars Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, Robert De Niro as gangland kingpin Al Capone and Sean Connery as Malone, the cop who teaches Ness how to beat the mob: shoot fast and shoot first.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Chicago Crime Commission Raises Concern Over Expanded Gambling in Illinois
Today, the Chicago Crime Commission said that Illinois State Representative Lou Lang's (D-Skokie)recent proposal to expand gaming in Illinois, which would add four gaming licenses and slot machines at horse race tracks, would have a significant negative impact to the integrity of gaming in Illinois. To address these concerns, the Chicago Crime Commission is suggesting a pay-as-you-go solution to keep gaming in Illinois honest and not place the financial burden on taxpayers.
The Chicago Crime Commission is concerned the Illinois Gaming Board is ill-equipped to facilitate the expansion of gaming outlined in Representative Lang's proposal. "From what we have seen, the proposal to expand gaming in Illinois does not appear to address the need for required suitability investigations to be conducted by the Illinois Gaming Board on the potential investors in these new gambling operations," according to Jim Wagner, president of the Chicago Crime Commission. "To even consider expanded gambling, I think the citizens of Illinois must be assured that the companies and employees who provide gaming services, gaming equipment and other ancillary services are beyond reproach," Wagner continued.
Unfortunately, even at current levels of gaming in Illinois, the Illinois Gaming Board has had difficulty reviewing applications for investments and conducting thorough background investigations on companies providing gaming equipment, in a timely manner. "As the former top investigator at the Illinois Gaming Board, I will tell you we have never had sufficient staffing to routinely review all vendor contracts that provide services to the gaming industry in Illinois," Wagner added.
"Budget restrictions imposed on the Illinois Gaming Board by the State of Illinois have left Illinois Gaming Board staff with concerns about appropriate due diligence or comprehensive background investigations over all aspects of gaming in Illinois," said Wagner. "Adding four new casino licenses and slot machines at horse race tracks would, potentially, completely overwhelm the ability of the Illinois Gaming Board to provide complete, competent and independent oversight of the industry," he added.
Arguments have been made that increasing the budget of the Illinois Gaming Board in order to improve their ability to investigate and monitor the gaming industry would decrease the revenue generated by taxes on gaming. "The answer to this concern can be found in the business model provided by the gaming control operations in both Nevada and New Jersey. Both states utilize variations of a pay-as-you-go investigative requirement. They require companies and individuals to pay, in advance, the cost of each investigation. Refusal to pay ends the licensing process," Wagner said.
To further defray costs to the taxpayers and increase the integrity of gaming, each casino could also be required to pay for the cost of Illinois Gaming Board Agents who are required to be on-site during gaming activity but should be on-site at all times. "While these steps would not remove the need for state budget appropriations, the overall costs of operating the Illinois Gaming Board would shift significantly to the companies and individuals that benefit from owning and operating Illinois gaming facilities and their ancillary businesses," he concluded.
The Chicago Crime Commission is concerned the Illinois Gaming Board is ill-equipped to facilitate the expansion of gaming outlined in Representative Lang's proposal. "From what we have seen, the proposal to expand gaming in Illinois does not appear to address the need for required suitability investigations to be conducted by the Illinois Gaming Board on the potential investors in these new gambling operations," according to Jim Wagner, president of the Chicago Crime Commission. "To even consider expanded gambling, I think the citizens of Illinois must be assured that the companies and employees who provide gaming services, gaming equipment and other ancillary services are beyond reproach," Wagner continued.
Unfortunately, even at current levels of gaming in Illinois, the Illinois Gaming Board has had difficulty reviewing applications for investments and conducting thorough background investigations on companies providing gaming equipment, in a timely manner. "As the former top investigator at the Illinois Gaming Board, I will tell you we have never had sufficient staffing to routinely review all vendor contracts that provide services to the gaming industry in Illinois," Wagner added.
"Budget restrictions imposed on the Illinois Gaming Board by the State of Illinois have left Illinois Gaming Board staff with concerns about appropriate due diligence or comprehensive background investigations over all aspects of gaming in Illinois," said Wagner. "Adding four new casino licenses and slot machines at horse race tracks would, potentially, completely overwhelm the ability of the Illinois Gaming Board to provide complete, competent and independent oversight of the industry," he added.
Arguments have been made that increasing the budget of the Illinois Gaming Board in order to improve their ability to investigate and monitor the gaming industry would decrease the revenue generated by taxes on gaming. "The answer to this concern can be found in the business model provided by the gaming control operations in both Nevada and New Jersey. Both states utilize variations of a pay-as-you-go investigative requirement. They require companies and individuals to pay, in advance, the cost of each investigation. Refusal to pay ends the licensing process," Wagner said.
To further defray costs to the taxpayers and increase the integrity of gaming, each casino could also be required to pay for the cost of Illinois Gaming Board Agents who are required to be on-site during gaming activity but should be on-site at all times. "While these steps would not remove the need for state budget appropriations, the overall costs of operating the Illinois Gaming Board would shift significantly to the companies and individuals that benefit from owning and operating Illinois gaming facilities and their ancillary businesses," he concluded.
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