PLOT:
Based on a true story of James “Whitey” Bulger, an Irish Mob godfather and a FBI informant who had a “secret trading” deal with his brother, William “Billy” Bulger, a state senator and a Boston public figure, and John Connolly, an FBI agent. They planned to take down the Italian mob and mafia in Boston, which went awry and things turned massively violent. When the credence for each other began fading out, drug dealing, murders, and extortion started to rise, and forced the FBI’s Boston office to confirm that Whitey Bulger was one of the most notorious criminals in US history and also one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List criminals.
REVIEW:
What did I like?
Oh Johnny. Johnny Depp has been in the headlines recently, and not for his acting. When a friend recommended this to me, she said to forget all the costumed Depp roles he’s mostly done for the better part of the 2000s, but focus on the true actor he is. She was not kidding! I was completely blown away by how convincing Depp is as Whitey Bulger. Sure, he’s under a ton of makeup to make him closer resemble Bulger, but he owns this role. There are a couple of scenes before the end where he threatens a couple of individuals and it is far scarier than any horror movie that has been released in quite some time. I can’t go into details because the characters have a bearing on the end of the film, but I can saw…wow…just…wow!
Mob life. Many of the reviews on this film have compared its portrayal of mob life to Goodfellas. I must be missing something, because I didn’t see what they saw. However, I will praise this flick for not making the mobsters look like they were living the high life. For the most part, they live normal lives. In so many other gangster films, criminals get a little money and suddenly they’re living large. The only person that does that in this is the FBI agent.
Learn a little something. There is a fascination with mobsters, almost to the point that they are heroes, in some respects. Depp himself proved this with the marketing for Public Enemies, where he played another gang leader, John Dillinger. In both the marketing and the film, it was played up as if he was the hero and the Feds were the villains. Bonnie & Clyde have the same kind of, shall we say PR? I don’t believe Whitey Bulger falls into that category, but until I watched this film, I only knew his name. Biopics may be sensationalized accounts of history, but there are some facts presented (after i post this, I am off to do some research and learn more about Bulger)
What didn’t I like?
Biopic formula. There seems to be a formula when it comes to biopics. Start in the present day (or after the subject has passed, gone to jail, etc), then flashback to their life with interviews/narration cutting in and out, end with the tragic moment in the subjects life, followed by updates on all the major players appearing on the screen right before the credits roll. This is not a bad formula, but at some point someone needs to do something else with these biopics. Maybe instead of updating us at the end, just show what happens? In this case, Bulger gets arrested after being on the run for 12 yrs. Maybe we could have seen some of the run (we see the arrest as the summaries start).
Pacing. For a drama, the pacing is pretty standard. As a gangster/crime film, it is a little slow. Much of this comes from spending too much time with the FBI. Honestly, of the 4 agents, we only need to know one and become fairly acquainted with another. The other two can make a couple of cameo appearances and be gone. There are some other slow sections that kill the film’s momentum, but the FBI stuff is what stuck out the most to me.
Violence…or lack thereof. From all accounts, White Bulger was a violent man. With this in mind, one would expect this to be a violent film. Yes, there are some scenes of violence, I think we could have had more. Maybe I’m just having a bit of a bloodlust, but this was a little tame. Most of the killings happened off screen, or we just see Bulger (or whoever he tells to do the deed) shooting a gun. We do get to watch as he chokes a couple of individuals later in the film, but this isn’t as satisfying as watching one get gunned down in broad daylight.
Final verdict:
What did I think of Black Mass? Well, as I mentioned before, this is Johnny Depp showing us he can actually act. The fact that he is in heavy make-up is just a bonus for him. This is an extremely competent film that probably should have received more attention come awards season, particularly for Depp. It isn’t without flaws, though. The film trudges along and seems as if it is longer than 2 hrs. Still, I would recommend watching this if you get the chance.
4 out of 5 stars
Mystery Man's Musings 