“Johnny Depp might as well have been playing the Mad Hatter all over again as far as James Bulger is concerned”, Bulger’s defense attorney Hank Brennan tells People magazine.
Advertisement
As Bulger, Depp is a triple threat: fascinating, menacing and believable. He terrifies his friends.
What’s missing is the high inspiration that set this film’s models – “The Godfather” movies and Scorsese gangster films and all the rest – above the usual mob movie fray. That said, neither he nor director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace) can resist the temptation to depict their subject as a sociopathic monster rather than a three-dimensional human being. It lacks the twisted joy of “GoodFellas”, the moral push-and-pull of “The Godfather” and the frenzied shock of “Scarface”. While the film features some fine acting performances, it’s not as transcendent as something like American Hustle, the 2013 David O. Russell movie about the FBI ABSCAM operation of the “70s and” 80s. Those documentaries will give you a great history lesson on one of America’s most notorious gangsters.
The now 86-year-old criminal, who is currently serving two life sentences after being apprehended in 2011 after 16 years on the run, is holding nothing back concerning his thoughts on Hollywood’s take on his life.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays William Bulger with a curious craftiness that makes you hope for a featurette on the “Black Mass” DVD about him and his come up as president of the Massachusetts State Senate, as well as the mysteries behind the “loyalty” shared between him, his brother and their cunning FBI pal-agent John Connolly, played by Joel Edgerton, who conveys Connolly’s arrogant ambition with organic conviction. Bulger agreed as he saw this as an efficient way to beat the Italians. But his performance is outstanding. Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Corey Stoll and Juno Temple all play characters who suddenly pop into the narrative – and just as abruptly disappear completely from the story. Depp captures the Boston accent, walk, and mannerisms we expect of someone in Jimmy’s position, but what will leave movie-goers remembering the most are his eyes, which are steely, demonic blue beads. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties – Whitey rises as a crime boss while Connolly makes a name for himself in the Federal Bureau of Investigation . His presence is undeniably riveting but, at the end of the day, not particularly deep – mostly a watered-down version of Jack Nicholson’s Frank Costello.
As dominating as Depp is, it’s Edgerton who really expands his character as he shows Connolly being squeezed on all sides as he tries escaping the inevitable.
Advertisement
Well, Black Mass will do for Depp what Pirates Of the Carribean did so many years ago. At the very least, on the heels of wasted efforts like “The Lone Ranger” and “Mortdecai“, “Black Mass” is a shotgun blast announcing that Johnny Depp is still one of the best actors in the business.
