“Black Mass” is a good genre film. The cast and crew all rise to the occasion and help tell an engrossing story. It is not perfect or as good as the best gangster films, but it’s still a solid movie.
“Black Mass” tells the story of legendary crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger and his alliance with the FBI. In exchange for information on his Italian rivals, the FBI protected Bulger and allowed his empire to grow. This dysfunctional alliance eventually collapsed and resulted in jail time for Bulger’s handlers, his associates and Bulger himself after he was arrested in 2011.
“Black Mass” gives Johnny Depp, who plays Bulger, the chance to do some excellent acting. His performance is one of the most frightening that I’ve ever seen in a gangster film. He also brilliantly plays scenes where Bulger spends time with his family, deals with loss, and negotiates various deals.
“Black Mass” is more than just a vehicle for Depp, however. His relationship with his FBI handler and childhood friend John Connolly wouldn’t carry the force that it does if Connolly wasn’t played by Joel Edgerton. Edgerton doesn’t soften the darker side of Connolly’s character but still makes the viewer feel for him a bit when his world comes crashing down.
This movie also has a great supporting cast, even if it isn’t always used well. Benedict Cumberbatch has a few good scenes as Bulger’s state senator’s brother, but their relationship could have been fleshed out more. There are many talented character actors in this movie, and I particularly liked Corey Stoll as a no-nonsense member of the FBI who initiates a stronger effort to bring down Bulger.
The female characters of this film are few and don’t have much to do. Dakota Johnson leaves a vivid impression with her small role as Bulger’s girlfriend, much like she did in “The Social Network.” Julianne Nicholson does what she can as Connolly’s wife.
The greatest weakness of “Black Mass” is that it doesn’t have a good rhythm. Its brief montage scenes, which could have conveyed Bulger’s growing wealth and status, do not add much. “Black Mass” draws you into its story, but it has one too many forgettable scenes.
It lacks some of the things that made the truly great gangster movies memorable. It doesn’t have the New Wave influenced style of “GoodFellas” or the ambition of “The Godfather.” It kind of resembles “Angels with Dirty Faces,” a 1938 gangster movie about two boyhood friends who wind up on opposite sides of the law, but it lacks that film’s enjoyably didactic nature.
In some ways “Black Mass” is a cousin of “American Hustle.” Both films have sequences set in the 1970s and feature FBI agents who find themselves destroyed by a situation they thought they could control. But “Black Mass” doesn’t have the wit or energy of “American Hustle.”
“Black Mass” is not a great film. But it is a good one. It is worth seeing at least for Depp and Edgerton’s performances, which are justly generating Oscar buzz.
Jesse Pasternack
