“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.” – IMDb
Black Mass
Starring
Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Joel Edgerton, Kevin Bacon, Peter Skarsgard
Directed by Scott Cooper
Box Office: $99,775,678
Review
Finally, I got the chance to watch Black Mass! Directed by Scott Cooper (Out of the Furnace, Crazy Heart). Johnny Depp has been my favorite actor for several years and I have been excited to watch this for some time now.
I heard several mixed reviews. Some said it was the best movie they have ever seen. Others said it didn’t stay true to the actual real-life events. I haven’t read the book, Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill, yet. Therefore, I am unable to state whether or not they did a good job turning it into a film.
The Cast
The first thing I will say is that I absolutely love this cast. It is star-studded and they all do amazing performances. Even for those whose performances weren’t amazing, you could tell they had their hearts in it. Like many other reviewers have said, Cumberbatch’s accent does make you want to cringe- but, I give him respect for trying.
Johnny Depp, like always, does an amazing job. Now, I will not give any spoilers, but there is one scene when Depp speaks to the wife (Julianne Nicholson) of FBI Agent John Connolly (Edgerton). Everything about it gave me chills. It was perfect. I love Edgerton for many of his films. Especially, for his role as Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. He does yet another amazing job in this film.
We’ve seen Depp play “gangster” roles before, such as in Public Enemies, Donnie Brasco etc. He does plays this part extremely well. (There is a reason why I have loved him for the majority of my life). Now, that’s not to say that Whitey Bulger was properly portrayed. You can read more about this in the article by Vanity Fair.
Overall
There are definitely amazing scenes. However, I wasn’t amazed by the film as a whole. Believe me, I don’t like saying that about any film that stars Johnny Depp. Maybe it’s because I had been waiting for so long to see it, but I felt a bit let down.
I am sorry to say, I found this film to be highly overrated. By the end of it, I was glad it was over. Johnny, I’m so sorry- I still love you.
Did you think it lived up to the hype and the rave reviews? Or, do you agree that it was a bit of a letdown? Let me know in the comments!