Review of Black Mass (2015) by Braden B — 23 Mar 2016

I like Johnny Depp when he's quizzically colorful, but I like him more when he's grounded. No one's better at playing vampires and pirates and Big Bad Wolves, but he's much more riveting of a performer when his idiosyncrasies are put forth toward a movie independent from the caricature. As the last few years have been comprised mostly of performances that rely on his ability to transform himself into something of a cartoon, I've been routinely missing the days of Ed Wood and of Donnie Brasco. Too many Jack Sparrows and Tontos fill scenery I'd rather not be there in the first place.

So last year's "Black Mass" is the comeback I've been craving from cinema's most famous chameleon. Playing real-life crime lord Whitey Bulger with dedication found only in his finest performances, it marks the beginning of a career renaissance I'm more than willing to bask in the glory of. Though the film is conventional by default (despite its true crime history, it's not much more than your standard, ensemble driven mob drama), it contains a performance so tantalizing you'd be out of your mind not to be awestruck by its expertise. I'm reminded of "Dallas Buyers Club" and "Still Alice," wonted works propelled by magnificent central talent.

But "Black Mass," though somewhat underwhelming as a whole, is still an accomplished piece of work, its noteworthy cast exceptional, its staging by director Scott Cooper ("Crazy Heart," "Out of the Furnace") punching and brutal. The screenplay, by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, skillfully connects scores of characters with naturalism that never allows for one to pass by with dramatic invisibility. Every component to the film is crucial in its building of a believable world of criminal evil, and its mounting is impeccable. If only it were more than just meritorious - then we might have one of the best crime films of the decade. It comes close with Depp's performance, but never jumps off the screen as expertly as he does.

But exhibiting a biopic without tinselly glitz, especially in the scope of a crime movie, is gargantuan in difficulty, and "Black Mass" is distinguished in its gritty reliability. Spanning from 1975 to 2011, it follows the focal Bulger throughout the peak years of his reign of terror. The leader of the callous Irish-American Winter Hill Gang, the most prominent name in organized crime in South Boston, Bulger is a sociopath who will stop at nothing to gain the upper hand; so confident is he in his methods that he rarely has to get his hands dirty himself.

Bulger, however, would be your average criminal mastermind if not for his imminent relationship with John Connolly (a first-rate Joel Edgerton), an FBI man and old friend. Connolly, a crooked man-child who tells himself that his ways of corruption are for the sake of good, makes Bulger an offer he could refuse but chooses not to. Overwhelmed by the rising authority of the Winter Hill Gang's rival conglomerate, the Anguilo Brothers, Connolly albeit hesitantly proposes to give Bulger and his men immunity so long as he act as informant for high profile criminal matters in the area. Bulger doesn't like snitches, but he becomes one after realizing that FBI protection will keep his sinful "business" practices impervious to punishment. Years go by and his domination only grows; but all empires come crashing down sooner or later. Miraculous is how long Bulger keeps himself out of trouble.

Bulger's intimidating persona is the very thing that keeps "Black Mass" the inquisitive work that it is. Without him, I'm sure we'd be afflicted but not so much affected by the "A Most Violent Year" mode it takes on, a mode which is technically astounding but only decent dramatically. But Depp, with his steely, cunningly baleful characterization, gives a performance I suspect will be referenced for decades. So outstanding is he that we forget Bulger is being played by a superstar and not Bulger himself, and that's a victory in and of itself. Depp no longer feels like one of the best actors of his generation taking a couple years off from sincerity for money - he's back and as adept as ever. I'd like more, please; just make sure the film matches the lead's electricity.