Black Mass review

Title: Black Mass
Director: Scott Cooper
Cast: Johnny Depp
         Benedict Cumberbatch
         Joel Edgerton
         Dakota Johnson
Certificate: 15
Runtime: 126 minutes

Based on theatre story, Black Mass shows the rise and eventual fall (as do many gangster films) of James "Whitey" Bulger, here played by Johnny Depp who is at times unrecognisable, both due to his performance and the very impressive (and at times terrifying) makeup that is on him. Firstly though, before I move on with my so called critiquing; a little history/trivia. Whitey Bulger was an American gangster who grew up in the "southies" in New York, who built a personal empire based on fear and respect. The life of Bulger was actually the inspiration behind Jack Nicholson's Frank Costello in Martin Scorsese's the Departed (2006), which I personally am a huge fan of.

Right, on to the film itself. I hate to say this, but I was slightly disappointed in Black Mass. There's no denying that the performances in the film (especially from Depp, Cumberbatch and surprisingly, Kevin Bacon). Unfortunately, the film itself is nowhere near as captivating as the performances that surround it. Similar to Coopers last film, Out of the Furnace, the film has so much potential but is squandered and left feeling a little plain. I'm not sure if it's the pacing or the direction, but something about Black Mass just doesn't exactly work.

The script, fortunately, is quite good. The film is narrated by one of Bulger's, for lack of a better term, employees, who adds a sense of continuity to the film. Unfortunately though, the narrator is quite flat at acting, like being told a story by a plank of wood. The film at many times just feels like a tv movie version of a Martin Scorsese picture, fit with ultra violence, lots of swearing and narration, but none of the energy or style that Scorsese brings to his films.

As I had said before, the acting is really impressive in this film. Depp gives us what is probably his best performance in years, showing the disgusting violence of Bulger matched with his loyalty to family and friends. A devil with a heart, even old people love him in the film. Typical of the traditional gangster film, the gangster is respectful and in many ways likeable; although here, we see the grey area, there is the sense of class and respect, but there is also the dirtiness and grit of the seedy nature... But I suppose me ranting on about the downfall of the respectful gangster is a conversation for another day, so I digress.

The supporting cast, luckily enough, is just as impressive as Depp with Benedict Cumberbatch pulling off a fairly convincing New York accent. As impressive as Cumberbatch and Joel Edgerton are in the film, I found that it was some of the smaller characters who really helped the film along, giving some really compelling performances no matter how small. These include Corey Stoll, who makes quite a lasting impact despite only being in the film for the last 20 minutes or so, Kevin Bacon, who plays the skeptic to a very convincing end and finally Rory Cochrane of whom I don't know for much other than the underrated horror film Oculus, but is incredible in both films.

I think the biggest problem that this film has is the mundanity of it. The film feels awfully plain, which can in many cases work, but here makes the film feel dull and void of much cause. The film relies so heavily on it's lead performances that it manages to forget everything else in the process, such as good direction or editing. All in al the film is enjoyable, but loses itself in mundanity.

7/10