Black Mass isn’t *bad*, it’s just exactly what you’d expect. Is that bad? Maybe. One thing is for certain, it’s definitely a movie. In fact, if the Academy awarded an Oscar for movie-est movie, Black Mass would probably be nominated. Cameras, acting, the whole nine. They really went all out.
Again, that’s not to say it’s bad. In fact, if you’ve read about Whitey Bulger in the newspapers or on the internet or watched a cable program about Whitey Bulger and thought, “Gee, I really wish someone would make a Hollywood film about Whitey Bulger,” well then color your wish fulfilled because say what you will about Black Mass, Black Mass is inarguably a Hollywood film about Whitey Bulger.
Did you know that Whitey Bulger was gangster? Were you aware that Whitey Bulger is from Boston? Have you read that Whitey Bulger was an FBI informant? Did you hear Whitey Bulger’s brother was a state senator? All of these facts and more are dramatized in Black Mass, a Hollywood motion picture about Whitey Bulger starring Johnny Depp.
A wise man once said to me, the great thing about Johnny Depp is that you can always tell when he’s acting. Even a child could tell that Johnny Depp is acting in Black Mass, because he’s wearing blue contact lenses and lots of make up and a wig, all to help him look like Whitey Bulger, a blue-eyed gangster from Boston who became an FBI informant.
John Connolly was an FBI agent from South Boston. He grew up in the projects with Whitey Bulger. John Connolly is played by Joel Edgerton in Black Mass, and eventually he gets in too deep. He gets seduced by the criminal lifestyle and goes down with Whitey Bulger. It was their loyalty that made them rich, and it was their loyalty that brought them down. Both of them went to jail at the end of Black Mass.
Whitey Bulger had a brother named Billy. Billy Bulger is played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Benedict Cumberbatch is an actor from England. Many actors from different cities and countries play real people from Boston in Black Mass. Whitey Bulger’s first wife is played by Dakota Johnson in Black Mass. Dakota Johnson is Melanie Griffith’s daughter. Black Mass was written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth and it was directed by Scott Cooper and it is definitely a major Hollywood motion picture starring Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger and Benedict Cumberbatch as his brother Billy Bulger. Depp and the other actors were good and the camera was focused right on them and when you’re watching Black Mass the minutes will fly right by. For anyone who’s ever dreamt of having their expectations met, there’s Black Mass, a film that’s exactly what you think it’s going to be.
Grade: Passing!
Vince Mancini is a writer and comedian living in San Francisco. A graduate of Columbia’s non-fiction MFA program, his work has appeared on FilmDrunk, the UPROXX network, the Portland Mercury, the East Bay Express, and all over his mom’s refrigerator. Fan FilmDrunk on Facebook, find the latest movie reviews here.