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Black Mass
As far back as Hollywood can remember, there has always been the crime picture. From the days of silent cinema with D.W. Griffith’s The Musketeers of Pig Alley, to the gangster flicks of the 30’s with Little Caeser and Scarface, to the film Noirs of the 40’s and 50’s, Bonnie & Clyde, Coppola’s The Godfather, to the various works of Scorsese; Hollywood has made a lot of movies involving crime. And Black Mass is the latest film put out by Hollywood in this genre. Now I have wanted to see this movie ever since I saw the trailer a few months back because of the performance of Johnny Depp. Now Depp has not had the best track record with movies the last few years. The man has starred in the very profitable Pirate sequels and the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movie. But those films being good are debatable. In addition the man has had some very noticeable bombs. Morticai, Trancendence, Dark Shadows, and The Lone Ranger all lost a crap ton of money. In fact the last movie I saw in the cinema with Johnny Depp was his uncredited cameo in a film I adore, Tusk. And when your best movie in the past three years is not the big Hollywood blockbuster helmed by Tim Burton or Gore Verbinski, but the Kevin Smith movie where a guy gets turned into a walrus and you are not even the star of the flick; you know you are on hard times. But Depp is an incredibly talented actor. Too talented to be kept down. And thankfully this seems to be the film that is changing his fortunes at the cinema, because this is an awesome film!
Now a film with the title “Black Mass” you would expect it to involve something involving Satanism. A bunch of guys gathered around a room looking to schtup a goat or something. But in this case, the mass is not referring to a religious gathering, but Massachusetts. This film takes place in Boston, where one Jimmy “Whitey” Bulger was a big player. And like many crime pictures, this flick is based off of true events. The movie details the rise of Bulger from a small time hood with the White Hill Gang to crime lord of Bean Town. Now how the hell does a South Boston Irish gangster make it to the top of the pile in the crime world? Especially when the competition is the Italian Mafia? Easy. You take out your competition. But one does not do that just by going to the mattresses. Jimmy has a younger brother who is a senator, and has a little help from an FBI agent by the name of John Connelly. Connelly is another Southie who grew up with the Bulger brothers. Connelly is getting pressure from his boss to get evidence to put away the Angiulo crime family. The Angiulo’s are trying to move in on South Boston where Bulger controls all the rackets. Connelly comes up with the idea to try and form an alliance with Bulger. Connelly wants Bulger to become an informant for the FBI. Bulger gives details about the Mafia, the FBI makes some arrests, and Bulger is helping to put away his competition. Bulger naturally does not like the idea. After all, no one likes a stool pigeon. And as Goodfellas told us in the beginning, "you keep your mouth shut and don’t rat out your friends.” But since Bulger is not ratting on his friends and business partners, Bulger eventually goes along with the plan. Fun fact: Whitey Bulger was the basis for Jack Nicholson’s character in Scorsese’s The Departed. Bulger gives the Feds a little info, the Feds make lots of big arrests, and soon Bulger’s competition is put away. Now Bulger is in charge of all the rackets in Boston. But life gets pretty complicated for Bulger and Connelly as the film explores the themes of loyalty, friendship, and the law. All three lines become pretty damn blurry throughout the film.
The film is directed by Scott Cooper. You might remember his last film Out of the Furnace, the revenge flick with Christian Bale and Casey Affleck. The film had great cinematography, very good performances, and a very good premise; but I thought the pacing was crap. Here Cooper seems to have found the proper story beats. We see Bulger before he became an informant in the mid 70’s, his rise in the crime world, and his eventual fall in the 80’s. Each time we get to peek just a little bit into the world of one of the most notorious crime bosses in America. But it is not just the gangster Bulger we see. We see him as a crime boss yes and he is very ruthless as head of the White Hill gang. Hits are carried out whether on his order or by his own hand. But we also see Bulger as a complete human being too. We see him interact with his girlfriend and mother to his child. We see him as a father to his boy. We see him as a son losing to his mother playing gin rummy. We get to see him as a brother, and as a native of Boston. And each role is played perfectly by Johnny Depp. As I have said Depp is one of the best actors working today, and this role was a complete transformation. This is nothing new for Depp, but what is new is what he is transforming into. Previously he has immersed himself into roles where he brings a certain off beat and weird charm to his roles. He used this unique acting ability to bring life to roles like Ed Wood, Raoul Duke (aka Hunter S. Thompson), and Captain Jack Sparrow. Each of these roles has a certain comedic quirkiness and some degree of warmth to the characters. Bulger is a completely different character. While we do see glimpses of some form of humanity from Bulger, the majority of the time all we see is the calculated mind of a gangster. Johnny’s Bulger is cold. He will pat you on the back and say everything is all right seconds before he has you killed. Johnny has gone from charming rogue, to hardened sociopath. And the performance is nothing short of chilling and hypnotizing. The film also has some excellent supporting cast members such as Kevin Bacon and Benedict Cumberbatch, but Depp is the star of the show and the real reason to see this movie.
I was very happy to see this film and to see a return to proper form for Johnny Depp. It had been far too long since he had a film that was financially successful and critically acclaimed. And given how packed the theater was when I saw this movie, I think this film is going to do quite well financially. If you like crime movies, especially ones based off true events then this is the movie to see. If you are a fun of Johnny Depp this is a must see. Here is hoping for some Oscar love for Depp and company.
Black Mass
As far back as Hollywood can remember, there has always been the crime picture. From the days of silent cinema with D.W. Griffith’s The Musketeers of Pig Alley, to the gangster flicks of the 30’s with Little Caeser and Scarface, to the film Noirs of the 40’s and 50’s, Bonnie & Clyde, Coppola’s The Godfather, to the various works of Scorsese; Hollywood has made a lot of movies involving crime. And Black Mass is the latest film put out by Hollywood in this genre. Now I have wanted to see this movie ever since I saw the trailer a few months back because of the performance of Johnny Depp. Now Depp has not had the best track record with movies the last few years. The man has starred in the very profitable Pirate sequels and the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movie. But those films being good are debatable. In addition the man has had some very noticeable bombs. Morticai, Trancendence, Dark Shadows, and The Lone Ranger all lost a crap ton of money. In fact the last movie I saw in the cinema with Johnny Depp was his uncredited cameo in a film I adore, Tusk. And when your best movie in the past three years is not the big Hollywood blockbuster helmed by Tim Burton or Gore Verbinski, but the Kevin Smith movie where a guy gets turned into a walrus and you are not even the star of the flick; you know you are on hard times. But Depp is an incredibly talented actor. Too talented to be kept down. And thankfully this seems to be the film that is changing his fortunes at the cinema, because this is an awesome film!
Now a film with the title “Black Mass” you would expect it to involve something involving Satanism. A bunch of guys gathered around a room looking to schtup a goat or something. But in this case, the mass is not referring to a religious gathering, but Massachusetts. This film takes place in Boston, where one Jimmy “Whitey” Bulger was a big player. And like many crime pictures, this flick is based off of true events. The movie details the rise of Bulger from a small time hood with the White Hill Gang to crime lord of Bean Town. Now how the hell does a South Boston Irish gangster make it to the top of the pile in the crime world? Especially when the competition is the Italian Mafia? Easy. You take out your competition. But one does not do that just by going to the mattresses. Jimmy has a younger brother who is a senator, and has a little help from an FBI agent by the name of John Connelly. Connelly is another Southie who grew up with the Bulger brothers. Connelly is getting pressure from his boss to get evidence to put away the Angiulo crime family. The Angiulo’s are trying to move in on South Boston where Bulger controls all the rackets. Connelly comes up with the idea to try and form an alliance with Bulger. Connelly wants Bulger to become an informant for the FBI. Bulger gives details about the Mafia, the FBI makes some arrests, and Bulger is helping to put away his competition. Bulger naturally does not like the idea. After all, no one likes a stool pigeon. And as Goodfellas told us in the beginning, "you keep your mouth shut and don’t rat out your friends.” But since Bulger is not ratting on his friends and business partners, Bulger eventually goes along with the plan. Fun fact: Whitey Bulger was the basis for Jack Nicholson’s character in Scorsese’s The Departed. Bulger gives the Feds a little info, the Feds make lots of big arrests, and soon Bulger’s competition is put away. Now Bulger is in charge of all the rackets in Boston. But life gets pretty complicated for Bulger and Connelly as the film explores the themes of loyalty, friendship, and the law. All three lines become pretty damn blurry throughout the film.
The film is directed by Scott Cooper. You might remember his last film Out of the Furnace, the revenge flick with Christian Bale and Casey Affleck. The film had great cinematography, very good performances, and a very good premise; but I thought the pacing was crap. Here Cooper seems to have found the proper story beats. We see Bulger before he became an informant in the mid 70’s, his rise in the crime world, and his eventual fall in the 80’s. Each time we get to peek just a little bit into the world of one of the most notorious crime bosses in America. But it is not just the gangster Bulger we see. We see him as a crime boss yes and he is very ruthless as head of the White Hill gang. Hits are carried out whether on his order or by his own hand. But we also see Bulger as a complete human being too. We see him interact with his girlfriend and mother to his child. We see him as a father to his boy. We see him as a son losing to his mother playing gin rummy. We get to see him as a brother, and as a native of Boston. And each role is played perfectly by Johnny Depp. As I have said Depp is one of the best actors working today, and this role was a complete transformation. This is nothing new for Depp, but what is new is what he is transforming into. Previously he has immersed himself into roles where he brings a certain off beat and weird charm to his roles. He used this unique acting ability to bring life to roles like Ed Wood, Raoul Duke (aka Hunter S. Thompson), and Captain Jack Sparrow. Each of these roles has a certain comedic quirkiness and some degree of warmth to the characters. Bulger is a completely different character. While we do see glimpses of some form of humanity from Bulger, the majority of the time all we see is the calculated mind of a gangster. Johnny’s Bulger is cold. He will pat you on the back and say everything is all right seconds before he has you killed. Johnny has gone from charming rogue, to hardened sociopath. And the performance is nothing short of chilling and hypnotizing. The film also has some excellent supporting cast members such as Kevin Bacon and Benedict Cumberbatch, but Depp is the star of the show and the real reason to see this movie.
I was very happy to see this film and to see a return to proper form for Johnny Depp. It had been far too long since he had a film that was financially successful and critically acclaimed. And given how packed the theater was when I saw this movie, I think this film is going to do quite well financially. If you like crime movies, especially ones based off true events then this is the movie to see. If you are a fun of Johnny Depp this is a must see. Here is hoping for some Oscar love for Depp and company.