Black Mass — Blue Fairy Film Blog

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures, Cross Creek Pictures, and 360 Films

Last night was the start for the opening weekend of “Black Mass,” a biopic of Boston criminal mastermind James “Whitey” Bulger.” From the trailer, released through Warner Bros, the film looks like a tense, riveting, action packed, criminal drama, and its own entity amongst the many similar dramas that have preceded it. Depp even put on extensive special effects makeup to divert audience attention to his performance rather than let his star appeal taint the film. The film follows the rise of Whitey Bulger through the ranks of the Boston crime scene with the aid of FBI liaison John Connolly (Edgerton). Through this unholy union Connolly makes Bulger an informant and protects him from prosecution. The rest of the film follows Bulger and his gang’s antics in conjunction with Connolly.

Unfortunately, this film does not entertain and thoroughly embarrasses itself by being sloppy, uninspiring, and out of touch with the modern Boston crime film. The story is not told from any one perspective, though we begin with the testimony of Kevin Weeks (Plemons). Throughout the film we don’t rest on a single character, even Whitey, because the plot dictates that we understand the fate of Connolly. This film has no central protagonist, no one to feel for, or for us to try to understand. This is but one reason that the film has no tension throughout. We’re supposed to fear Bulger, but that is never earned throughout the course of the film. This could have been achieved by showing that Bulger’s decisions are tied to his emotions, making his actions that much more unsure. A superior film, like “Goodfellas,” achieved this by having Tommy (Pesci) ask why he is funny to a fellow Mob member, and it slowly devolves into a standoff. Depp tries this approach at a dinner with an FBI agent who he is on shaky ground with, questioning why he would give up a family recipe so easily. The scene is very long as it tries to build sufficient tension, with Bulger repeatedly yelling at the agent. It was so ridiculous I actually laughed through the whole thing.

There is no world building in this film, as we are thrown into the inner world of Boston crime via1975 immediately. They keep talking about Southie like we as the audience have any indication what that world means in the context of the greater Boston area. There is also no sense of time, as the costuming is absolutely terrible, the title cards are absent for a ten year jump in plot (that comes out of nowhere) and it’s never indicated how one event in the film links to another. There are some standout performances within the cast, especially Peter Sarsgaard as a lowlife Miami hitman named Halloran, and Corey Stoll as a newer, tough as nails, prosecutor at the FBI, who tries to take Connolly down. The rest of the performances are uneven at best. The accent work varies between obnoxious and unfeasible, especially on the part of Cumberbatch who you’re always aware is a Brit.

Even without nitpicks I wouldn’t consider this a good film by any stretch of the imagination. It could not even entertainment my most base instincts via crime, because not enough of it is actually committed. Bulger is supposedly peddling drugs to kids. Never see it. Supposedly he is laundering all of his money through different channels. Never see it. Apparently he’s paying off the FBI, sending them on vacations and giving them gifts. Never see it. What do we see? Countless murders, strung along like pearls on a necklace. Again, in other films, murders supposed to be surprises to the audience as they come out of nowhere. A good crime film shows the boss occasionally grant mercy based on mere whim. This creates tension, because it means someone’s fate is always uncertain. In this film no one lives. Everybody is an enemy of Bulger, and everyone dies. If these murders were shown in a simple montage, we would understand the path of destruction Bulger left in his wake, and it would do the job without us having to sit through the same repetitive action again and again. Even just hinting to their deaths, instead of showing them in such graphic detail, would do the job.

This is a film that feels repetitive; even parodic. Many other, better, films come to mind as inspiration for this film including “The Departed,” “The Town,” “Public Enemies,” “Blow,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The main difference between this film and those is that they are their own films. There’s nothing original or exciting about this film. Well, maybe those creepy felinesque eyes that Depp sports throughout the film, making him look like an alien in human garb. That’s a new one.