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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
Black
Mass, the new drama that chronicles the rise and (glances over the) fall of real-life
Irish mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, won’t have Martin Scorsese or Francis Ford
Coppola sweating their iconic films’ places in the pantheon of gangster cinema.
But it is remarkable for one reason: director Scott Cooper somehow got Johnny
Depp to stop sleepwalking through roles for a paycheck.
Aside
from his hilarious cameo in 21 Jump Street a few years ago, it feels like
this is the first time Depp has genuinely invested himself in a role since
playing John Dillinger in 2009’s Public Enemies. Maybe it has something to do
with portraying notorious, real-life criminals.
Whatever
the reason, I’m just glad it happened. While the movie around him is little more
than a dramatized Wikipedia summary of Bulger’s “greatest hits” (pun only sort
of intended), Depp is electric thanks to his chilling, no-winking performance
and a stunning physical transformation.
Black
Mass spans nearly three decades as it focuses on Bulger’s criminal enterprise,
specifically as it pertains to the secret alliance he forms with childhood pal
and current FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton). It starts as a way for the
two men on opposite sides of the law to wipe out a shared enemy: the Italian
mafia.
However,
thanks to Connolly’s sycophantic desire for Bulger’s respect, he allows his
informant to evade arrest, consolidate his power and rocket from small-time
hood to one of the most dangerous gangsters in the history of Boston.
Eventually, he also rockets to the top of the FBI’s most wanted list, second
only to Osama bin Laden.
Unfortunately,
Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth’s screenplay (which they adapted from a book
by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill) is only interested in the bullet points of
Bulger’s life, never in what makes such a lethal character tick. There are some
quick platitudes about the importance of family and love of country, but the
gangster is mostly treated like the shark in Jaws – a terrifying, unknowable
monster.
That
works if you’re a viewer who’s only interested in sudden, brutal violence, but
those looking for something more than a surface-level examination of Bulger
should look elsewhere. For me, that means checking out Whitey: United States
of America v. James J. Bulger, a documentary currently streaming on Netflix. I
haven’t seen it yet, but several of my colleagues enthusiastically recommended
it when we talked after the Black Mass screening.
I’m
a big fan of Cooper’s debut, Crazy Heart, but the basic, point-and-shoot style
that worked so wonderfully in that film doesn’t pay off as well here. He starts
out with some intriguing stylistic choices, particularly his use of close-ups in
the various interrogation scenes, but his technique eventually crumbles into a continuous
series of flat, static shots that suck the action out of his storytelling.
On
the plus side, I suppose I should award Cooper a few bonus points for somehow avoiding
a scene scored to the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” It’s a
killer song, but The Departed has forever laid claim to that one.
(Ironically, the fictional character Jack Nicholson plays in Scorsese’s far
superior Irish mob movie is essentially Bulger in everything but name.)
Aside
from Depp’s welcome return to life as such a frightening character (those piercing
blue contact lenses and a dead front tooth are extraordinarily unsettling), the
supporting performances leave much to be desired. It’s a shame considering the stunning
number of recognizable faces. The biggest misstep is Edgerton, who apparently
modeled his work on Jeremy Renner’s mayor character in American Hustle.
He
nails Connolly’s obsequious, weasel-like nature, but it’s also apparent that he’s
working overtime to pull off the “Bah-ston” accent. It’s a problem that haunts other
actors too, particularly Benedict Cumberbatch as Bulger’s politician brother. Honestly,
the only performer who makes the dialect sound natural – aside from Depp, of
course – is Jesse Plemons (who most viewers will recognize as affable Landry
Clarke on Friday Night Lights or psychopathic Todd on Breaking Bad), fantastic
in a small role as a Bulger associate.
The
film also wastes several terrific actresses in thankless roles. Dakota Johnson
(a much better performer than 50 Shades of Grey would indicate) and Julianne
Nicholson appear briefly as the disapproving wives of Bulger and Connolly, while
Juno Temple shows up for a couple of scenes as a charismatic, ill-fated
prostitute.
Black
Mass is not a terrible movie by any stretch of the imagination. There’s plenty
– Depp’s performance above all – that makes it worth seeing. However, the fact
that it’s simply a serviceable drama when it could have been something truly special
makes it a disappointing “if only.”
Black
Mass is rated R for brutal violence, language throughout, some sexual
references and brief drug use.
Grade:
B-
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