Black Mass (2015) Directed by Scott Cooper. Starring: Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson. IMDB says: “The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.”
“ …‘just saying’ can get you buried real quick”
There is a moment early on in The Departed where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is jogging alongside Anthony Anderson’s character. They’re outside in a bright and colorful field surrounded by police academy trainees. The scene joins the two mid conversation as Anderson explains, “ So she tells me, ‘You never finish anything. You finish the police course, you get taken care of again, baby.’ So after graduation, I get a blowjob again.” Without missing a beat, DiCaprio replies, “That’s great. Your mother sounds like a wonderful woman.” Cue laughter. The film goes on and is filled with loads of quotable dialogue, violence, and music from The Rolling Stones. Black Mass is not The Departed. The Departed is a mythological fairy tale about James “Whitey” Bulger. Black Mass is a dark, brooding, f-word heavy character study that paints Whitey more as an angel of death than a mob boss; and it’s real fuckin’ good.
The film, directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace) covers a few years of James “Whitey” Bulger’s life during the 70’s and early 80’s. He’s reintroduced to Special Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) through his elected official brother Billy Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch). From there we see an alliance built between the feds and Whitey where the goal is to take down a mafia family who is invading on Whitey’s turf. As you can probably guess, Whitey takes advantage of that and uses the fall of the mafia to his advantage. Now that the plot description is over with, we can talk about Johnny Depp. As far as I’m concerned, Johnny Depp IS Jimmy Bulger. There is no discerning between the two. In previous roles, you could see a hint of Depp but in Black Mass, you don’t see Johnny for a second. From his Bostonian growl to his icy blue eyes, Depp commands your attention in every scene he’s in and has you mesmerized and hanging on every word. The only downside to his outstanding performance is that it takes away from the strength of Joel Edgerton. Edgerton is absolutely stellar as Agent Connolly and in any other film his character would absolutely standout. His descent into corruption as he battles between his job and sense of honor is wonderfully portrayed and I don’t think enough attention will be given to him because so many people will be gushing over Depp; which honestly is well deserved.
The entire cast is solid. Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julianne Nicholson, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Corey Stoll, David Harbor, W. Earl Brown, Juno Temple, and even Meth Damon, oops, I mean Jesse Plemons are perfectly cast and make you want more interaction with their characters than what you are given. What bums me out in a film like this is all the potential subplots and character arcs that get left out. I understand it though, it’s a movie and not a series but there is so much more to these characters I want to know and learn. Dakota Johnson isn’t in many scenes and I’d like to see the full depth of her character and Bulger’s relationship. I could go further but I don’t want to spoil anything in the film. (Not like it would be spoiling as most of this in documented in books and documentaries)
The film is gorgeously dark. The beauty we saw in Out of the Furnace continues with Black Mass and I hope it’s an aesthetic that Scott Cooper continues to employ because it absolutely works. It doesn’t drown these characters, but it keeps things realistic and reminds you that the things these people have done, the drugs and murders, should be better left in the dark. My only complaint would be the score. You might not recognize the name Tom Holkenborg, but you might recognize his DJ/Producer alter ego Junkie XL. The score isn’t memorable by any means, but there are moments in the film where the score forces its way in and foreshadows events that are about to happen in seconds. At times it took away from the tension, but it didn’t completely ruin the moment for me. I must admit, the final piece of music that took us into the credits piqued my interest as it sounded like if Giorgio Moroder decided to score Scarface with an orchestra rather than his signature synths.
There is a scene about midway through the film where Connolly arrests a mob character. He walks the cuffed character out of a building, places him into his car and then drives down the alleyway. As he drives away, the scene fades into a sprawling shot of an ocean, leading you up to a beach. The arrest of this mobster, is just a drop in an endless ocean of crime. There is no one person to arrest or one piece of miracle legislation that will end crime. This film could have been another drop in an endless sea of gangster films, but because of its stellar performances and beautiful camerawork, it’s a film that stands on its own, meriting your attention; just don’t go running your mouth. Don’t wait for the rental—do yourself a favor and definitely see this in theatres.
FTS SCORE: 88%
Black Mass is currently
in theaters nationwide.