Black Mass (2015) review

Contrary to what recent critical and commercial buzz may suggest, Johnny Depp is technically still one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Consistently one of the highest-paid actors in the industry, he’s the star of Disney’s biggest live-action film franchise, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, with the series’ fifth installment set to come out in 2017. Not only that, but he has also had some solid critical/commercial hits over the years as well, many of which came with his most frequent collaborator Tim Burton. It’s just that in recent years, Depp has hit a bit of a rough patch as he has been a part of some highly notorious box-office bombs, including ‘The Lone Ranger’ and this past January’s ‘Mortdecai’. Because of this, his newest film, ‘Black Mass’, is being hailed by many as a ‘return to form’ for Depp. In it he plays, as the trailers promote, ‘one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. history’, former South Boston crime boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger. The film covers the story of how Bulger ended up becoming a key informant of the FBI through the workings of one of his old friends, agent John Connolly, resulting in an ‘unholy alliance’ that lasted for nearly two whole decades. Depp is most definitely the star of the show here in this highly engaging crime thriller that may not reinvent the wheel when it comes to the crime film genre but is still a well-made biopic about one of the most infamous criminals that America has ever had to deal with.

In 1975, James ‘Whitey’ Bulger (Johnny Depp) is in charge of all organized crime in South Boston as the head of the Winter Hill Gang while his younger brother William ‘Billy’ Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a member of the Massachusetts Senate. However, Bulger constantly faces opposition from the Angiulo Brothers, who run crime up in the North End and are intent on taking over his turf. Around the same time, John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), an old childhood friend of the Bulger brothers, returns to Boston having now become an agent with the FBI. Looking to take down the Angiulos as well, Connolly approaches Bulger with the idea of him becoming an informant for the FBI. That way, not only can the FBI finally take down the North End gang, who have been frequently flying under their radar for years, but Whitey will also be able to get rid of his North End rivals once and for all. Whitey agrees to the deal but is instructed by Connolly and the FBI to not commit any crimes or murder anybody. But, as things turn out, Bulger does not follow these orders as all as he continues his business as usual, expanding his empire while Connolly keeps the FBI off his tail. Soon enough, Whitey’s increasingly violent actions start to put their relationship in hot water once the FBI finally starts looking into their corrupt affairs.

‘Black Mass’ primarily focuses on Bulger’s ‘alliance’ with the FBI from 1975 to 1990. This film doesn’t cover anything about his time as a ‘fugitive’ after he got exposed by the media. Instead, his eventual fate of finally being apprehended in 2011 is relegated to the film’s final moments. But that’s totally fine because ‘Black Mass’ is still a very compelling crime drama even if it doesn’t tell ‘the whole story’. And ultimately the main reason why this film is so captivating is due to how fascinating of a character Whitey Bulger was. As noted in the film’s opening narration, despite all that he did over the years as the ‘kingpin’ of crime in South Boston, he was also a beloved figure in his neighborhood. Cold and quiet but also menacing and ferocious, you can never take your eyes off of him whenever he’s on screen, especially in scenes where he’s threatening someone. Admittedly, the film is a rather straight-forward effort as far as the gangster genre is concerned, not really pulling a lot of ‘major’ punches in terms of its story. But at the end of the day, I don’t hold this against the film that much because this is truly meant to be an acting showcase. As a director, Scott Cooper definitely knows how to get great performances out of his cast.  

As it has been advertised, Johnny Depp is absolutely fantastic in this as Whitey Bulger. While I personally feel that Depp’s been doing fine as an actor in recent years in terms of his performances, even when taking into account all of the very eccentric roles that he has played, I will concur that this is one of the best performances of his career. Not only does he completely disappear into the role of Bulger, but he also perfectly captures Bulger’s intimidating demeanor to the point where he legitimately does become quite scary at times. But while Depp has been getting the most attention for his turn as Bulger, Joel Edgerton is equally outstanding as John Connolly. Whereas Bulger is cold and intimidating, Connolly is more conniving and corrupt, loyal to the Bulger brothers but willing to break the law to help them out. The film actually does a really nice job of balancing out the roles of these two men and Edgerton more than holds his own against Depp. As for the rest of the cast, they’re just as excellent with their roles in the film ranging from major, like Cumberbatch as Billy Bulger and Rory Cochrane and Jesse Plemons as two of Bulger’s associates in the Winter Hill Gang, to minor, like Corey Stoll as the FBI agent who heads the investigation into Bulger’s criminal activities and Dakota Johnson as Bulger’s first wife, who’s only in the film for about five minutes or so, disappearing altogether after a crucial scene in which their son ends up dying from Reye Syndrome.

‘Black Mass’ is definitely one of those films that makes me want to read more into the true story that inspired it; in this case, the tale of Whitey Bulger and his time as an FBI informant. And to be perfectly frank, considering that I’m from New England, this does make the story even more intriguing to me given how big of a deal this must have been back in the day. Of course the main selling point of the film is Johnny Depp’s transformational and ferocious performance as the infamous New England mob boss. It’s easily one of the best performances of his career but another career-best performance comes from Joel Edgerton as the man who allowed the ‘alliance’ between Bulger and the FBI to happen in the first place, John Connolly. At this moment, they’ve become some of the biggest frontrunners for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, at next year’s Oscars. Heck, if we’re talking ensemble awards, this film also features an excellent ensemble cast as well. I can’t really go as far as say that ‘Black Mass’ is one of the all-time greatest gangster flicks, nor is it one of my absolute favorite films of the year, but it’s definitely a solid film that held my interest from beginning to end that, above all, proves that Johnny Depp isn’t just a one-trick pony as some may feel that he is nowadays given his recent films.

Rating: 4.5/5