Black Mass - directed by Scott Cooper
Starring: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard, David Harbour, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Adam Scott, Corey Stoll, Julianne Nicholson, W. Earl Brown, Juno Temple
Running Time: 122 minutes
Rated: R16 - Violence and numerous F Bombs
Crime is a tough genre.
Sometimes because making a criminal the central figure means losing audience sympathy.
Other times because if it's a based on a true story deal the outcome is often well known robbing the piece of tension.
Most of the time the difficulty is down to the weight of the greats of the genre that came before (usually Martin Scorsese films).
All of these difficulties apply at least to some degree to Scott Cooper's "Black Mass".
The central figure is a despicable and uber creepy criminal, the story is based on real and very recent events and the shadow of several similar movies loom large over it.
Notably Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" and Scorsese's "Goodfellas" and his brilliant and multi Oscar winning "The Departed".
(interesting to note that Nicholson's character in the latter was inspired by the real Whitey Bulger)
Not to say that "Black Mass" isn't good.
More that these contribute to it falling short of greatness.
Jimmy "Whitey" Bulger rose to criminal prominence in the 1980's and continued a violent career in Boston for more than a decade.
There wasn't much he wasn't involved in.
Drugs, protection rackets, gambling, extortion, murder.... even supplying arms to the IRA.
A bad guy by any measure.
He had previously spent time in Alcatraz and had volunteered to take part in LSD testing in exchange for a reduced sentence.
It isn't mentioned in the movie but Bulger claims that he was tricked into volunteering and the drug took him to the brink of insanity.
The assessment may be understated.
When we first meet Bulger in "Black Mass" he exhibits the sort of psychotically, violent behaviour we as an audience would expect.
But there is a dash of something else too.
He goes out of his way to help an elderly woman and he is very, very nice to his Mother and to his Brother.
The relationship that "Black Mass" most concerns itself with however is that between Bulger and FBI agent John Connolly.
It was an arrangement between these two old friends that gave Bulger a competition free run in the Boston underworld.
In exchange for information aidin the ousting of the Mafia Anguilo family a blind eye would be turned to Bulger's activities so long as he didn't go too far.
Johnny Depp is getting a lot of praise for his performance as Bulger and it is fully deserved. He disappears into the role.
To be fair I've never seen him turn in a poor performance but I suspect a lot of people confuse poorly performing movies such as "The Lone Ranger" and "Mortdecai" with poor Depp performances.
As Bulger Depp creates a character that seems seconds from psychosis at all times. His stare and posture reveal a barely contained fury.
He is aided by some creepily effective makeup that makes his Bulger considerably more intimidating in appearance than the real thing.
Joel Edgerton is also very good as Connolly.
There is an ineptness to the character and Edgerton is great playing a man out of his depth.
Rounding out the main cast is Kevin Bacon as FBI man Charles Maguire and Benedict Cumberbatch as Bulgers senator brother Billy.
Support in the form of the great Jesse Plemons ("Paul" and "Breaking Bad"), David Harbour ("End of Watch" and "The Equalizer") and Rory Cochrane ("Argo" and "Public Enemies") is equally impressive.
You may notice a distinct lack of female names in that list but for me the performance I most savoured was that of Julianne Nicholson as Connolly's wife Marianne.
She has one very memorable scene with Depp but sadly not a lot more.
She is exceptional in this movie.
The same applies to Dakota Johnson- another actress who deserves more minutes on screen.
Juno Temple gets merely a scene and a bit continuing the chronic underuse of talented actresses.
Allegedly there was more meat on the female roles initially but the film was recut to put more focus on Bulger and his story over a more specific timeframe.
Which meant that Sienna Miller's performance as Bulger's later years lover was cut out entirely.
Which brings me to the biggest issue with "Black Mass".
It chooses to cram Bulger's story down to his time as an informant.
We miss what made him the man that he is when we meet him and we don't see who he was after he fell from his throne.
There isn't a lot of context to the character.
He is psychotic and violent but there is no attempt to delve into the possible reasons.
Henry Hill in "Goodfellas" is given the sort of room that Bulger needs here.
Dakota Johnson's character disappears without explanation, Corey Stoll arrives looking like being a major character but is given very little to do and some of the heinous behaviour that Whitey inflicted on the Boston population at large is merely hinted at.
There is an angle here but "Black Mass" chooses not to go with it.
Instead of looking at what Bulger did to the city of Boston and the implications of his deal with the FBI it instead opts for a more pedestrian crime flick route.
"Black Mass" is a very good film - without a doubt it is.
But it has the scent of an excellent film in its nostrils but never gets there.
With a broader focus and a little more time to tell the bigger story it could easily have stood proudly alongside the greats of the genre.
It's an enjoyable film that nonetheless frustrates as the realisation that a lot of the story is missing dawns.
The performances from Depp, Edgerton and Nicholson are good enough to further highlight that they deserve a better vehicle.
So does the main character.
If you want a more effective look at the Whitey Bulger story watch the truly excellent documentary "Whitey: The United States of America vs James J. Bulger".
It reveals the true horror of the real story and shows that sometimes reality is even more incredible than fiction - or even fictionalised reality it seems.
RATING: 74/ 100
CONCLUSION: A movie more notable for an abundance of fine performances from a great cast than for the total end result. Within sight of greatness it doesn't quite make it but is still well worth a look.
Running Time: 122 minutes
Rated: R16 - Violence and numerous F Bombs
Crime is a tough genre.
Sometimes because making a criminal the central figure means losing audience sympathy.
Other times because if it's a based on a true story deal the outcome is often well known robbing the piece of tension.
Most of the time the difficulty is down to the weight of the greats of the genre that came before (usually Martin Scorsese films).
All of these difficulties apply at least to some degree to Scott Cooper's "Black Mass".
The central figure is a despicable and uber creepy criminal, the story is based on real and very recent events and the shadow of several similar movies loom large over it.
Notably Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" and Scorsese's "Goodfellas" and his brilliant and multi Oscar winning "The Departed".
(interesting to note that Nicholson's character in the latter was inspired by the real Whitey Bulger)
Not to say that "Black Mass" isn't good.
More that these contribute to it falling short of greatness.
Jimmy "Whitey" Bulger rose to criminal prominence in the 1980's and continued a violent career in Boston for more than a decade.
There wasn't much he wasn't involved in.
Drugs, protection rackets, gambling, extortion, murder.... even supplying arms to the IRA.
A bad guy by any measure.
He had previously spent time in Alcatraz and had volunteered to take part in LSD testing in exchange for a reduced sentence.
It isn't mentioned in the movie but Bulger claims that he was tricked into volunteering and the drug took him to the brink of insanity.
The assessment may be understated.
When we first meet Bulger in "Black Mass" he exhibits the sort of psychotically, violent behaviour we as an audience would expect.
But there is a dash of something else too.
He goes out of his way to help an elderly woman and he is very, very nice to his Mother and to his Brother.
The relationship that "Black Mass" most concerns itself with however is that between Bulger and FBI agent John Connolly.
It was an arrangement between these two old friends that gave Bulger a competition free run in the Boston underworld.
In exchange for information aidin the ousting of the Mafia Anguilo family a blind eye would be turned to Bulger's activities so long as he didn't go too far.
 |
| Depp as Bulger (left) and with Joel Edgerton (centre) and Rory Cochrane and W. Earl Brown (right) |
To be fair I've never seen him turn in a poor performance but I suspect a lot of people confuse poorly performing movies such as "The Lone Ranger" and "Mortdecai" with poor Depp performances.
As Bulger Depp creates a character that seems seconds from psychosis at all times. His stare and posture reveal a barely contained fury.
He is aided by some creepily effective makeup that makes his Bulger considerably more intimidating in appearance than the real thing.
Joel Edgerton is also very good as Connolly.
There is an ineptness to the character and Edgerton is great playing a man out of his depth.
Rounding out the main cast is Kevin Bacon as FBI man Charles Maguire and Benedict Cumberbatch as Bulgers senator brother Billy.
Support in the form of the great Jesse Plemons ("Paul" and "Breaking Bad"), David Harbour ("End of Watch" and "The Equalizer") and Rory Cochrane ("Argo" and "Public Enemies") is equally impressive.
You may notice a distinct lack of female names in that list but for me the performance I most savoured was that of Julianne Nicholson as Connolly's wife Marianne.
She has one very memorable scene with Depp but sadly not a lot more.
She is exceptional in this movie.
The same applies to Dakota Johnson- another actress who deserves more minutes on screen.
Juno Temple gets merely a scene and a bit continuing the chronic underuse of talented actresses.
Allegedly there was more meat on the female roles initially but the film was recut to put more focus on Bulger and his story over a more specific timeframe.
Which meant that Sienna Miller's performance as Bulger's later years lover was cut out entirely.
 |
| Fine work from Julianne Nicholson, Dakota Johnson and Juno Temple is given little screen time |
It chooses to cram Bulger's story down to his time as an informant.
We miss what made him the man that he is when we meet him and we don't see who he was after he fell from his throne.
There isn't a lot of context to the character.
He is psychotic and violent but there is no attempt to delve into the possible reasons.
Henry Hill in "Goodfellas" is given the sort of room that Bulger needs here.
Dakota Johnson's character disappears without explanation, Corey Stoll arrives looking like being a major character but is given very little to do and some of the heinous behaviour that Whitey inflicted on the Boston population at large is merely hinted at.
There is an angle here but "Black Mass" chooses not to go with it.
Instead of looking at what Bulger did to the city of Boston and the implications of his deal with the FBI it instead opts for a more pedestrian crime flick route.
"Black Mass" is a very good film - without a doubt it is.
But it has the scent of an excellent film in its nostrils but never gets there.
With a broader focus and a little more time to tell the bigger story it could easily have stood proudly alongside the greats of the genre.
It's an enjoyable film that nonetheless frustrates as the realisation that a lot of the story is missing dawns.
The performances from Depp, Edgerton and Nicholson are good enough to further highlight that they deserve a better vehicle.
So does the main character.
If you want a more effective look at the Whitey Bulger story watch the truly excellent documentary "Whitey: The United States of America vs James J. Bulger".
It reveals the true horror of the real story and shows that sometimes reality is even more incredible than fiction - or even fictionalised reality it seems.
No comments:
Post a Comment