Black Mass
DIRECTOR: Scott Cooper
CAST: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson and Juno Temple
CLASSIFICATION: 16 LV PPS
RUNNING TIME: 122 minutes
RATING: 4 stars (out of 5)
Jocelyn Noveck
Shakespeare had his tortured Hamlet, his ambitious Macbeth, his malevolent Iago, his warring Montagues and Capulets. But what would the Bard have done with the tale of James “Whitey” Bulger, and all the supporting players around him?
There was Whitey, at first a minor criminal who became one of the most feared crime bosses in history, ruling his turf for two decades and evading capture for nearly two more. There was his brother, Billy, who grew up in the same home in Boston but became one of the state’s most powerful politicians. There were the feuding Boston mob and Bulger’s Winter Hill gang. Then the FBI agent whose efforts to gain Bulger’s co-operation led to his own undoing. And the FBI itself, which ended up protecting Bulger for years and facilitating his murderous rise.
Yes, Shakespeare would have had a field day. And so does Hollywood, namely director Cooper and a top-flight ensemble led by Depp in a performance that reminds us, after a string of uninspiring movies, why he’s one of our most compelling actors.
Black Mass is based on the book by Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neil. It begins with police interviews of Bulger’s ageing henchmen, then flashes back to 1975. We meet Bulger as he’s asserting control of the Winter Hill gang, which is engaged in a bitter turf war with the Angiulo family.
Luckily for Bulger, a childhood friend has arrived back in town – John Connolly, an ambitious FBI agent. Connolly (Edgerton) figures the way to make headway quickly is to bring his old pal into the fold as an informant. He first goes to Billy, a state senator (Cumberbatch), who rebuffs him.
Then he goes directly to Jimmy.
When Jimmy agrees, he rationalises it: “They protect us, and we do whatever the (expletive) we want.”
Which is, basically, what happens, as Connolly’s plan spirals into a catastrophe for the FBI. Jimmy provides marginal information at best; meanwhile, he wreaks havoc. Here’s where it’s chilling to watch Depp as he grows more sinister with every murder.
These include putting a bullet into the head of an associate who addresses him inappropriately; strangling a disloyal henchman with chains and choking to death the young step-daughter (Temple) of a colleague. He becomes so menacing, you truly fear for the one person seemingly unafraid to talk back to him: the mother of his young child.
If you haven’t read the news accounts of Bulger’s years on the run and capture, now’s not the time – see the movie first. And marvel at how real life really does provide the best material. – AP
If you liked Donnie Brasco or The Departed, you will like this.