<P> The film grossed $26.9 million in its opening weekend, becoming the third Scorsese film to debut at number one . In the following three weeks the film grossed $19 million, $13.5 million and $9.8 million, finishing second at the box office each time, before grossing $7.7 million and dropping to 5th in its fifth week . </P> <P> On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 266 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2 / 10 . The site's critical consensus reads, "Featuring outstanding work from an excellent cast, The Departed is a thoroughly engrossing gangster drama with the gritty authenticity and soupy morality we come to expect from Martin Scorsese ." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 86 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A --" on an A+ to F scale . </P> <P> Entertainment Weekly put it on its end - of - the - decade "best of" list, saying: "If they're lucky, directors make one classic film in their career . Martin Scorsese has one per decade (Taxi Driver in the' 70s, Raging Bull in the' 80s, Goodfellas in the' 90s). His 2006 Irish Mafia masterpiece kept the streak alive ." </P> <P> Online critic James Berardinelli awarded the film four stars out of four, praising it as "an American epic tragedy ." He went on to compare the film favorably to the onslaught of banality offered by American studios in recent years . "The movies have been in the doldrums lately . The Departed is a much needed tonic," he wrote . He went on to claim that the film deserves to be ranked alongside Scorsese's past successes, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas . </P>

Who was the real rat in the departed