Actor Johnny Depp is back.
Black Mass
Grade: B
Director: Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart)
Screenplay: Mark Mallouk, Jez Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow)
Cast: Johnny Depp (Donny Brasco), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Rating: R
Runtime: 122 min
by John DeSando
“It's not what you do, it's when and where you do it, and who you do it to or with. If nobody sees it, it didn't happen.” Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp)
Black Mass is as amoral as that quote and grim—a true-story as brutal as the murders committed on the screen. By “brutal” I also mean the cinematography (as was the case with director Scott Cooper’s “Out of the Furnace"), which depicts a somber, dark South Boston, where danger comes from every opening a street might have.
The story of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp) carries much of the darkness, if not all. Whitey’s role as kingpin mobster and informant for the FBI requires deftness only actors like Depp can carry off. Yes, as the gangster formula usually has it, he evidences warmth and compassion at moments, but his operative emotion is anger.
Similar to the gangster actors like Pacino and De Niro, Depp brings a quiet menace to the screen, whereby even the audience must respect the boss, Bulger. Depp is far better than he has been in years (no tics, no phony accents, etc.), underplaying a role Pacino might have chewn up along with the scenery. His humanistic interactions like caring for his son or an old lady are few but reveal a nuanced character not just a murderer.
The film gives full characterization to FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) but skimps on others such as Whitey’s state senator brother, Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch). Seeing more of the two brothers would have been rich both for the acting and for depicting the unusual power held by two very different brothers. I was working in Southie in the mid-seventies, and the Bulger name was becoming legend. The different power held by each brother was arresting. This film tries to depict that anomaly with limited success.
Among the film’s few other weaknesses is the heavy-handed Junkie XL soundtrack, emphasizing each important moment with obvious meaning. Kevin Bacon and Adam Scott as agents are underused, though Scott’s role is almost laughably a victim of editing. However, my comment underscores how rich the film is in acting and the right actors to play the parts.
“Take your shot but make it your best. Cause I get up, I eat ya.” Whitey Bulger
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
