Review of Black Mass (2015) by Josh K — 06 Jan 2016

Welcome the return of Johnny Depp, in a gritty crime thriller that finally saves his career after the dreadful The Lone Ranger which nearly ruined and destroyed it. Depp plays Whitey Bulger, the leader of the Irish-American Winter Hill Gang who acted as an informant to the FBI. The film follows Bulger, who was a deadly crime boss in Boston who informed the FBI about various crime families and an FBI agent who slowly became corrupted by crime.

The cast in this film is stellar, especially Depp, who returns to a dramatic role after several wacky performances, a few of which nearly ruined his career, most notably The Lone Ranger and Mortdecai, which was also released in 2015. Depp depicts Bulger as a real monster, who won't hesitate to kill anyone who insult or humiliate him, though he is still human at times, especially toward those in his family. The makeup work on Depp is remarkable, doing a great job at transforming Depp into his character. While I didn't mind Depp's performance in 2014's Tusk, I feel that the role of Bulger is the role that Depp should be playing, dramatic, rather than wacky, roles. The other actors are just as superb. Joel Edgerton is terrific as John Connolly, the FBI agent who works with Bulger and slowly becomes corrupted by crime and Bulger. Benedict Cumberbatch is remarkable as William Bulger, Whitey's brother and Boston senator, who does not take part in crime. Cumberbatch proves that he is an exceptional actor and truly chameleonic. Rory Cochrane and Jesse Plemons are superb as two members of Bulger's crew. The supporting cast is also fine: Kevin Bacon as Connolly's superior, David Harbour as Connolly's unwitting partner, Dakota Johnson as Bulger's wife, Julianne Nicholson as Connolly's wife (who shares a terrifying scene with Depp), Peter Sarsgaard as psychotic criminal, Adam Scott as a colleague of Connolly and Corey Stoll as an attorney bent on bringing down Bulger.

Scott Cooper masterfully directs the film, helping it to not fall down into cliche and keep a sense of originality. The film's structure, with a few members of Bulger's crew explaining their actions and Bulger's crime in prison interviews, brings an interesting and perfect approach to the film, since at times you see events from their points of view. The screenplay by Jez Butterworth and Mark Mallouk, which is based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill, which well-written and crafted. The cinematography by Masanobu Takayanagi supports the film, at times acting gloomy and other times colorful, depending on certain scenes, while also supporting the violent actions of the characters.

While the film does at times drag and feel a little long, especially for the two hour runtime, it never gets boring and keeps its originality. The end result is a film that can be placed on that shelf beside other great crime films, such as GoodFellas and The Godfather, and also acts as a good savior of Depp's career, since this feels like the type of film Depp should instead be doing.