Black mass

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Black Mass



Black mass in the true story of the tie up between a FBI agent and a dreaded gangster---both of who grew up in the streets of Boston city of USA since childhood and formed a bond since those days .

James 'Whitey' Bulgur ( played by Johnny Depp ) is a deadly gangster who controls crime in south Boston . His brother is a local politician . One day Bulgur is approached through his brother by FBI agent ( played by Joel Edgerton ) John Connolly to help him clean up the mafia of north Boston by informing about the mafia's activities . In return he promises that the FBI will not go after Bulgur .

Both intend to use each other---Connolly hopes that the information provided by Bulgur will help him in getting the north Boston mafia and will help in advancement of his career , while Bulgur hopes to expand his criminal activities with the FBI protecting him from being brought to book .

Connolly of course is playing with fire....but amazingly he seems to have some romantic notions of the small time favours Bulgur had done to him in his childhood---to the point where his boss sarcastically taunts him about his 'fagggot relationship with Bulgur'...
Connolly crosses all limits by even socializing with Bulgur along with his family , to the point where his wife finally refuses to attend the parties . But she has to face Bulgur's wrath , who physically threatens her by inappropriately touching her....

Yes , no one messes with Bulgur---for he is a truly dangerous psychopath who can kill not just with guns but also with his bare hands....and a 'Bulgur burial ground' is littered with corpses buried by him....

The film clearly rests of the shoulders of Johnny Depp as Bulgur , and Johnny
has really waded into the skin of the role . His voice and his appearance exude real menace---and the best scenes of the film are when he warns people against betraying him by threatening them with dire consequences , and then laughing loud and claiming that he was just joking...but nonetheless making sure that he has got his message across....

Johnny's acting is such that even though he is such a psychopath you feel sympathy for him when his near and dear ones die ; these scenes have been directed with skill and show that surprisingly Bulgur has real feelings for his family inspite of his emotionless capacity for murder .

So how long will the cozy but unholy alliance between the FBI agent and Bulgur last ??
Will the duo be ever brought to book ??
Watch the movie for the answers....

The film is full of cuss words and use of foul language of which some was blocked out by the censors of my country ( India ) , and the proceedings are grimly realistic---as should be expected of a film based on such people . Other actors act well too , but budget of the film seems to be not-so-high---for special effects are not necessary . Photography and background score are not great though .

Verdict---Good .




I want to see this but those last couple lines of your review show through in the trailer. With that story and cast, it should be made with the gravitas and flair of a Goodfellas. Instead, it looks like Kill the Irishman.





An ambitious film with a star studded cast, but does Black Mass live up to the hype?

This is a film that I have been wanting to see ever since I saw the first trailer. After months of mediocre films, (albeit a few gems here and there) I saw Black Mass as the beginning of the awards season films, the films I love the most. This film has an astounding cast with star power at every turn. It’s truly amazing how they got such a great cast together. This of course, creates a lot of hype, to have this much star power in a film. But, does it live up to the hype? I love gangster films, and with Black Mass boasting such a great cast and tackling the story of one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. history, I thought this had the potential to be the best film this year. While Black Mass is a very well made and acted film, compared with the films I’ve seen so far, and my inferences on the films to come, Black Mass will likely be lower on the list of awards than I would have expected. There’s a lot to talk about with this film, so I better get started.

First of all, the scope of this story is massive. There are so many characters and plot lines that it’s surprising to think that this was made into a film, and not a mini-series. This leads me to my first, and main problem with the film. This story is way too much to pack into two hours. There are so many details and aspects in the film that demand to be expanded upon, but unfortunately do not have the time to be expanded upon. There are so many characters in this film that do not get enough screen time, in fact, nearly every character doesn’t get enough development. I am not saying that the characters aren’t well written. I am saying that the characters are very well written, and we see glimpses of characters that we become interested in, but never truly get to see the characters fully develop. When watching the film, with each new character I met I found myself wanting more of that character. You see, Black Mass is very much a film that is focused more on story than character. It’s such a rush to fit the whole story in that there’s no time for full character development, which is disappointing because the great characters are there, they just need more time to develop. The one character that was most developed was that of John Connolly (Joel Edgerton). The audience truly sees a full character arc with this character, and it is very satisfying. If only the other characters could have done the same.

In another sense, the film wastes a lot of great actors. Benedict Cumberbatch, for example, doesn’t get near enough screen time, and never gets to truly show his acting skill in this role. Each actor gives their all in this film, even if they’re on screen for 5 minutes of the film. I wanted to see more from each actor, I wanted to see this powerful cast be utilized to the best of it’s ability. But I instead only saw a glimpse of this cast giving their all. This factor is both a positive point and a negative point for the film. It’s positive in that every performance is spot on in the film, and negative in that we don’t get to see enough of those performances.

I’d like to talk a little about cinematography. The cinematography in this film is very good. At times, the film is cold and grey, showing the coldheartedness of the people the film is about. At other times it is colorful and visually splendid. These two very different visual styles are used perfectly in the film, and never seem out of place. The violence in the film is very realistic. It’s not stylized or romanticized in any way. It’s gritty and disturbing and it’s perfect for the film. The music in Black Mass was also good, but never really blew me away. But, it worked well enough for the film, so I don’t have anything to really complain about.

Black Mass is not a bad film. It has many great things going for it: a fantastic cast, good production values, and great performances all around. But, even with these great things going for it, it’s impossible to overlook the major flaws in story. Although it successfully tells the story, it does so without giving development to hardly any of the characters. But, I was entertained enough for two hours, and the performances certainly made it worth while, so I’m going to give Black Mass a

__________________
Through the darkness of future past
The magician longs to see
One chants out between two worlds:
Fire walk with me.