Should you watch this at weekend movie prices? If you’re into crime dramas.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 122 minutes (~2 hours)
“Black Mass” is a crime drama that’s based on the book “Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob.” It revolves around the life of real life criminal Whitey Bulger, and his rise and fall in Boston. It stars Johnny Depp (Jimmy/Whitey Bulger), Joel Edgerton (John Connolly), Benedict Cumberbatch (Billy Bulger), Dakota Johnson (Lindsey Cyr), Kevin Bacon (Charles McGuire), and Adam Scott (Robert Fitzpatrick). It is rated M-18.
“Black Mass” is a crime epic that humanises a heartless criminal whose crimes cannot be paid for in a lifetime. It not only manages to depict the vast darkness and cruelty of a city in the throes of crime, but also shows how these actions are, in a way, justified by the experiences of its protagonists. And in the end, it’s not truly any one person’s fault for the events of the film, but a result of circumstances.
Highlights
Johnny Depp’s surprisingly good turn as Jimmy Bulger
Of all the actors in this film who have to put on a South Boston accent, Johnny Depp is the most convincing. It’s a starkly different role from playing the usual drunken eccentric figure, and it pays off surprisingly well. We see him not just as a brutally violent crime lord, but as a father, son and husband. We see how the events in the film contribute to making him the person he is, and his performance is both rounded and sympathetic. If not for the personal disasters and sacrifices in his life, Jimmy (or Whitey) Bulger might have been a very different person, and that’s the greatest tragedy of all.
Use of atmos and silence
The intensity of the confrontations is heightened by the use of cold, deathly silence that’s layered with the background sounds of the scene. It’s frequently employed to show us just how cruel Jimmy Bulger can be, and it’s very effective in getting us to focus on the dialogue and Johnny Depp’s performance. Towards the end, you begin to take these silences as a signal of another display of Jimmy’s coldness, and it sends a chill down your spine to see what next act of cruelty Jimmy will engage in.
Grim yet immersive visuals
The sets truly plunge you into the 70s and 80s, with the classic architecture and worn look of the furniture and locations. Despite the usual feel of the 70s and 80s, that of optimism and hope, the colours manage to convey a sense of darkness and corruption. It’s this distinctive style that adds to the mood of the film, helping to accentuate the rot and filth that pervades the city.
John Connolly’s eventual fate
Although not the most interesting or compelling of characters, you do get a sense that he’s trying to make his best in a world that’s fraught with villainy. And when it comes to the end of the film and the consequences of his decisions come around, there’s a deep sense of sorrow, even more so than for Jimmy Bulger. And that is probably the most undeserved fate of all the characters in the film.
Letdowns
Benedict Cumberbatch can’t pull off the Boston accent
While Johnny Depp strikes gold by playing against type, the same can’t be said for the Sherlock star. Perhaps he’s too entrenched in his usual role of autistic genius, but it just seems completely unbelievable whenever it’s his turn on screen. It’s difficult to pinpoint what it is that makes his acting so unconvincing, but mainly it’s because of his Boston accent. It sounds too thick and unnatural, and affects his intonations and expressions. You can see Benedict Cumberbatch struggling with the maintaining both the accent and displaying his emotions, which distracts you from the story proper.
Adam Scott looks ridiculous as a moustached Robert Fitzpatrick
While Adam Scott is generally great at his roles, and his performance is nuanced and measured here, the moustache is a hilarious distraction in an otherwise serious film. Again, he’s another example of an actor who just can’t fit into the time and place of the film, and it detracts from the verisimilitude of the world created in “Black Mass.” A less exaggerated moustache or another defining feature would have worked much better.
“Black Mass” is a grand crime drama that takes you through a swath of different emotions as you view a city through the lenses of law and crime. While some of the cast may have been out of place, it still manages to weave a touching tale of a real life gangster.
“Black Mass” opens in cinemas 17 September, 2015 (Thursday).
This review was also published on Yahoo.
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