Black Mass

Because Hollywood is apparently taking a break from basic scheduling logic this month, I now present to you the first of three films that will be reviewed in the coming days (of which I still haven't officially decided on when I'll be seeing Everest). 

Black Mass has had the pleasure of being one of September's highest profile films for a small while now and has gathered sufficient attention because of it's slick current-mainstream-music-themed TV spots as well as the fact that it's Depp in a "normal person" role. Looking back, part of me should have wondered, "Why isn't this coming out closer to Oscar season? It looks like a contender." But those ads were just too damn convincing. 

Whitey Bulger, a notorious U.S. gangster that I legitimately had never heard of before this film, is the centerpiece here and it becomes pretty evident that he's quite the piece of evil, gangster work. The story sets itself in Boston, with each actor attempting their best Bostonian accents, some more successful than others (and none more successful than any that we saw in The Departed), and it tells of the latter half of Bulger's life/career. 

The issue becomes that, while I imagine the tale itself is immensely entertaining, something was lost in translation along the way because Black Mass, while still a solid film, struggled to captivate me the way I was expecting it would have. 

What a weird episode of Full House...

"I'm going to pick your nose
with this finger. Got it?"

Fortunately, the performances in Black Mass are not among one of the issues as almost everyone in it does the best in their role and thanks to a solid script, there is some good characterization throughout and it really gives a few of them a chance to shine, mainly and especially Depp, as well as Edgerton and Cumberbatch. Depp's Bulger is the best part of the film and he really does carry the film. Despite some highly-obvious contact lenses, the persona, swagger, and heart that Depp creates within this highly violent man calls for applause, and the film does suffer whenever he isn't on screen. Which is actually more than you might think as there is a strong focus on the F.B.I. agent that helped Bulger for many years, John Connolly, played by Edgerton. Connolly is a bit odd and he's a cocky SOB, which really made me dislike the character, even more than Bulger, leading to my distaste in the scenes that centered around him. Edgerton does a great job portraying him, this was just a case that I began to detest the character so much (the annoying Boston accent didn't help) that I didn't like the amount of focus placed on him, despite his importance to the story. 

No, where Black Mass struggles is with the story it wants to tell. I found it odd enough that it just picked up at a point in Bulger's life, but the film really struggles to find a core plot arc/thread to hold on to, resulting in a misguided journey through Bulger's life. Characters come and go without even an introduction or a goodbye (Dakota Johnson's Lindsey comes immediately to mind) and there are several time jumps that I could tell, only a couple of which are actually pointed out via year date-text on the screen. I believe that the main story was to tell the relationship between Bulger and Connolly, but then there are subplots of Bulger's violence, taking down rival gangs, Bulger's personal life, the gang's success, etc. and none of it seems tied into the bigger picture. As a result we are left with a highly interesting, and even well filmed, movie with some violent and brutal gangster scenes, but no real reason to care or feel captivated by most of the characters' stories. 

"I really didn't think this through. I have no idea where to hide the body."

Black Mass is enjoyable enough and tells an interesting enough story that I feel perfectly fine recommending it Depp fans and gangster-genre fans. It's a solid film that hosts some pretty great performances, but a gangster "classic" it is not. While it may have had some stellar marketing, the result is a film that, once all of the year's really good films are out, will only be remembered as that "Johnny Depp gangster flick". 

CONS:

• Lacks a cohesive center-line story. It starts in the middle of Bulger's life, tells a lot of interesting notes about the man, his life, and his colleagues, but struggles to really bring them together
• The disjointedness results in it not being very captivating
• Come-and-go characters
• Much like The Departed, the language gets ridiculous in a few dialogues
• I strongly disliked Edgerton's character
• Out of place original score. At times I thought they were using a score for a sci-fi film or something similar
• Lame soundtrack
• Another note about the sound -- the violent sounds (i.e. punches, gunshots, cars, etc.) seemed muted and dull, resulting in a lack of intensity for several of these scenes. It could have just been my theater as well I suppose

PROS:

• Highly interesting story that I never knew before
• Superb cast and they all do great
• Depp's Bulger elevates the film. He's a delight to watch and he does a solid job at representing a multifaceted character
• Captures the time period well
• Solid script and film making throughout

Rath's Review Score: 7/10