Which nail-biter will be honored with the title of best-reviewed thriller of 2006? The contenders include The Departed; The Last King of Scotland starring Forest Whitaker as the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin; Inside Man starring Denzel Washington as a hostage negotiator; The Proposition, about a man who is forced to bring in his own brother to justice; and The Illusionist, with Edward Norton as a magician who falls under Jessica Biel's spell. To quote Iron Chef, which one will reign supreme?

Forest Whitaker may be dressed in a kilt in The Last King of Scotland, but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security. He is one mean dude as the megalomaniac dictator Idi Amin, whose nearly eight-year reign of terror in Uganda resulted in thousands of deaths. Whitaker so embodies his role that Arizona Republic's Bill Muller writes, "[r]are is the actor who can accomplish an instant transformation from beast to buddy, but Whitaker makes it look easy." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of Atlanta Journal-Constitution says, "This is the sort of movie worth seeing for the performances alone."

The preview for Inside Man shows Clive Owen telling the viewer how he had committed the perfect crime. If that's the case, then why is he behind bars? The answer to this question makes Inside Man is one of the top rated thrillers of 2006. Expertly directed by Spike Lee, the movie "gives us back the stuff that once made Lee's movies entertaining," writes Terry Lawson of Detroit Free Press. L.A. Weekly's Scott Foundas says, "If Inside Man isn't the best movie Lee has done, it's probably the most purely exciting and enjoyable."

The multi-talented cult rocker Nick Cave wrote the screenplay for The Proposition, which John Hillcoat brought to vivid, harrowing life. A brutal, unflinching western set in the Australian outback, The Proposition is "as cruel as it is aesthetically flamboyant," writes Manohla Dargis of the New York Times.

Ed Norton stars as a magician who may have more under his sleeve than meets the eye in The Illusionist. Throw in a well-funded baron and a beautiful women whom both men have their eyes on, you get this well-crafted story of murder and intrigue. Hollywood.com's Kit Bowen says the movie is "a haunting romance wrapped in an enigma."

Coming out on top is ... The Departed.

An English-language remake of the Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs, Martin Scorsese's The Departed is just as riveting as the award-winning original. Two moles, one planted within the mob by the law enforcement and the other a mafia member infiltrating the police force, each try to unearth their couterpart. David Ansen of Newsweek calls it "Scorsese's most purely enjoyable movie in years," and Lou Lumenick of New York Post chiming, "the most entertaining major studio release this year." The Departed is 2006 best-reviewed Thriller, with an adjusted score of 85.23 and a Tomatometer of 93 percent.