Come to think of it, a rat and a mole don't look that different: "Infernal Affairs"

As I mentioned in my post for "The Departed," I had "Infernal Affairs" in my Netflix queue for some time before I saw the Scorsese dance remix. That version was pretty good. So is the original.

Our story is virtually the same. A crime boss takes a young man under his wing and steers him toward the police force, where he can be the bad guy's eyes and ears. Meanwhile, the police send a talented young officer way undercover to infiltrate the crime boss's operation. So begins a cat-and-mouse game in which we're left to wonder which guy will get exposed first.

It's such a good story that Marty S. couldn't help but adapt it just four years after it came out in Hong Kong. But while Our Great American Director allowed his take to swell to more than 150 minutes, the original weighs in at a trim 101 minutes. It's better for it.

While subtitles never make anything easier, it was pretty easy to follow what was going on with each of these guys. Sure, it may take a few minutes to figure out who is who, considering we don't have the famous visages of Leo and Matt Damon to transfix us. But once we see each mole/rat as an adult, it's no problem at all to buy the cop who's in too deep and the crook with the extra polish. In fact, not understanding their words made me study how they looked and carried themselves more, and appreciate how each actor pulled it off.

For the record, Tony Leung is the undercover cop, while Andy Lau is the crooked cop. Also doing a fine job with more subtle performances are Anthony Wong as Leung's supervisor and Eric Tsang as the crime boss. Wong is even more low-key than Martin Sheen in the "The Departed," which was kind of nice because I thought Sheen coddled Leo a bit. (That's why we got a hardassed Mark Wahlberg, I guess.) Tsang also holds back more compared with Jack Nicholson, which makes it more effective when he loses control. The face-off between the two higher-ups in the police station after Tsang is nearly busted is pretty cool.

That scene is better than the equivalent in "The Departed," and "Infernal" also tops its American counterpart by dispensing with much of the so-called love story. Sure, we see how each guy comes into contact with the same woman. But while "The Departed" kept throwing it in my face, this business is kept in the background here, which is good.

In addition to its shorter length, another plus for "Infernal Affairs" is the ending. I don't want to say "The Departed" took the easy way out, but considering all the carnage, you can say that justice was served. Not so much in "Infernal Affairs," but that's makes for a more powerful story, I think. When you sell your soul, apparently, all's not well that ends well.