MOVIE – The latest flick of the ever-changing Johnny Depp, “Black Mass” is about the twisted criminal record of Boston gang boss James “Whitey” Bulger and it’s a strange movie indeed. It doesn’t truly shines until you get in into its mood and figure what’s all this is about. Still, – for all of its flaws – it’s the first movie since “Eastern Promises” that added something truly innovative to the old school street-level gangster story.

 

From where does true corruption start? Helping out childhood friends on the other side of the law in the hope of eradicating the Cosa Nostra is a reason enough to make an “unholy” alliance between the Irish Mafia and FBI? Those are the main questions in Johnny Depp’s latest gangster movie, where you’ll have a hard time to recognize the handsome actor under the terrifying, bald mask of the ruthless criminal.

A frightening Depp in a dark 70’s gangster movie

Set mostly in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Black Mass tells the story of this alliance between the Boston gang boss James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp) and his pal from childhood: John Connelly (Joel Edgerton), who works for the FBI. Connelly has a hard time to pin the Cosa Nostra, so he turns to Bulger to help him out by giving him valuable information about the Italian gang, who are Bulger’s sworn enemy anyway.

While this alliance works in the beginning, it will crumble little by little due to Bulger’s unpredictable and violent nature and the several murders and rampant crime that Connelly will have a hard time to hide from his FBI colleagues.
The story (which may remind you Martin Scorcese’s Infernal Affair) for the most part works rather well, thanks the Depp’s mesmerizing acting and the way this corrupt world of criminal and political is presented (Bulger’s younger brother, Billy Bulger is a high ranked politician).

However in the second part of the movie the plot is losing progressively its focus and gets a bit repetitive. Yes, I understand that this is a factual story, still, watching Depp murdering people all the time, without any character progress gets lackluster after a while. Yes, we get it, that Bulger is such a psychopath, but just showing one murder after another is superfluous.
It doesn’t help either, that we all known this story too well – not because it really happened, but because so many movies were made about.

Ironically Depp’s best scene in regards to his wicked person is the one where he “checks on” Conelly’s wife. Marianne (a great Julianne Nicholson) wants to be separated from Bulger when Conelly invites them to the house, and she decides to skip dinner by hiding out in her bedroom. When Bulger is told Marianne “isn’t feeling well” he still wants to go up to check on her. After answering the door, Marianne is psychologically assaulted by Bulger, who is clearly offended by her playing ill to avoid socializing with him.

Under the auspices of checking her temperature, he caresses her face with his palm. His hand falls under her chin and it contorts to check if her lymph nodes are swollen. It’s also the same formation as if he was choking her and he makes sure she understands how close he is to doing so. This invasion of her personal space is such a violation Marianne can barely keep herself together. Nicholson is superb here, and Depp plays Bulger with such contempt for a minor social offense that you believe he’d absolute kill her at this moment without a hint of remorse.

Ice-cold killer

The true strengths of the Black Mass lie in Depp’s presentation as Whitey Bulger. His vampire-like, scary eyes, scary face, and excellent acting adds a new layer of depth to this rather well-known criminal. While Depp was fine as John Dillinger in Public Enemies, he reached a new level of portraying a gangster – even if there’s a bit of Jack Nicholson in his acting now.
The supporting cast is pretty good as well.

Edgerton excels in the role of the corrupt FBI agent, who has difficulty to see anymore what’s right or wrong in his work and while making an “alliance” with Bulger by “defending him” he goes so deep into the pit of corruption, that he becomes a bona fide criminal himself.

Still, that’s the real lost opportunity about the whole movie. Connelly certainly wasn’t acting alone with this criminal alliance, and Black Mass is somewhat lacking in showing the deepness of the corruption in the FBI. What we can see is how he manipulates colleagues who help him kind of unwillingly, but the real Connelly must have an easier time to convince them to do the “right thing.” Yes, I found the movie “white-washing” a bit the FBI.

Good movie, but far from being a gangster classic

Scott Cooper’s effort works rather well thanks to Depp’s and Edgerton’s excellent acting and, of course, the whole era, but it fails to achieve Coppola’s or Scorcese’s level regarding gangster movies. It’s a bit of a shame since Black Mass could have been the surprise of the year, but it remains “just” a good movie instead.

-BadSector-