Black Mass? More like Black Mess. This movie was not just a story that most of us could care less about, but it’s boring. It reminded me of American Hustle in that it was set in the same time period; it had a fantastic cast and, most importantly, the high expectations coming into it. I wouldn’t say that this movie was as disappointing because it didn’t have the Oscar expectations going into it as American Hustle did. Nonetheless, like the Christian Bale-led movie, I expected big things from this Johnny (Finding Neverland, Chocolat) endeavor. I don’t know if this movie was trying to be a combination of The Godfather/The Departed/Public Enemies and others, but it didn’t succeed outside of making Depp look like an old Jack Nicholson. I liked seeing Depp outside of the quirky roles he has been performing in as of late. And while he was pretty good, I did feel like the movie was brought down, in part, to how boring his character was. Unlike American Hustle, in which the performances were good (yet still overrated), the performances in Black Mass were flat. A terrific cast is wasted here. It is a disappointing movie in every sense of the word.

his is the true story of James “Whitey” Bulger (Depp), a small-time gangster and leader of Winter Hill, an Irish-American gang working out of South Boston. The movie chronicles several years, but mostly between 1975-1985. It begins with police interviews with Bulger’s crew. This is set sometime in the present early 1980s. His crew explains that they aren’t rats, yet they agree to work with the FBI in exchange for leniency in the crimes they’ve committed. His team consists of newcomer Kevin Weeks (Jesse Plemons – television’s Breaking Bad, television’s Fargo), his right-hand man Steve Flemmi (Rory Cochrane – television’s CSI: Miami, Public Enemies), and hitman Johnny Martorano (W. Early Brown – television’s True Detective – season 2). Though he is small-time, Whitey has plans for something bigger. And even though he is small-time, every time someone gets close to finding something on him, he manages to get out of the situation without so much as a scratch on him.

A more significant threat in South Boston is the Angiulo Brothers, a rising group with powerful ties to the Mafia. John Connolly (Joel Edgerton – Warrior, The Gift) returns home to South Boston after a series of quick promotions in the FBI. He has an interesting proposal to get his boss Charles McGuire (Kevin Bacon – Footloose, Mystic River) to sign off. It involves letting Whitey get to turn the other cheek regarding some of his more minor crimes in exchange for intel on the Angiulos. Whitey says he isn’t a rat but does say that he is a businessman. There’s no need to say anything else. We are aware of the potential problems that would arise with this sort of arrangement. It doesn’t help that Whitey’s brother William (Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game, War Horse) is a state senator. William loves his brother dearly but disapproves of what he does to maintain his way of life. We can see problems that would arise from this situation as well. All of these problems occur, and then some, and things spiral out of control while Whitey continues to develop an untouchable God complex.

Scott Cooper’s (Out of the Furnace, Crazy Heart) drama is bland in appearance and dull in delivery. He couldn’t create the same gripping story that he got from the movies mentioned above. Depp’s portrays Whitey as a cold-hearted killer is on the money, yet that doesn’t make the performance memorable. The character wasn’t at all likable, and while he had some challenging circumstances go against him in his life, we feel absolutely no empathy towards him. In his first film since his career-changing performance in The Imitation Game, Cumberbatch is underutilized here. Anybody could have played the role of this character whose purpose in the movie was almost pointless. The characters all look like they are from the late ’70s except for Kevin Bacon, who, aside from his thick Grantchester knot tie, looks like he’s straight out of a 2015 edition of GQ. The music is cheesy. We get everything from strings to the piano to brass instrumentals between the transitioning scenes. In many regards, despite its decade difference time frame, this is a much less successful version of The fantastic The Wolf of Wall Street.

This movie wasn’t my cup of tea, and I like a good drama based upon true stories (especially those dealing with crime). However, I found this incredibly dull and a story that did not need telling. You can do better at the movies this season.

Plot 7/10
Character Development 6/10
Character Chemistry 6/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 7/10
Directing  7/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 6/10
Hook and Reel 6/10
Universal Relevance 6/10 (I found this pretty unrelatable)
68%

Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie

• Public Enemies
• The Departed
• Goodfellas
• The Drop
• Donnie Brasco