★★★
Black Mass is the true story of Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp) and his uncanny ties with the FBI, which led him to an unprecedented level of rule over the city throughout the ’70s and ’80s.
After childhood friend and FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) brings Bulger on as an ‘informant’ – naively plotting an allegiance to help crack down on the city’s growing Mafia contingent – the agent suddenly finds himself stuck in a decades-long stalemate with what becomes one of the era’s most ruthless crime bosses.
The promo for this film has Depp looking decidedly odd and, to get it out of the way, he looks just as odd through the film. While he’s obviously consumed with Bulger, and delivers a menacing performance, there’s still a level of suspension required to get past the comb-over and pale make-up. As much as it may have been in line with the real-life character, he just sticks out, and even more so with the odd casting choice of Benedict Cumberbatch as his older brother, who’s also a Senator. While Cumberbatch is a welcome addition to any film, and delivers accordingly, there’s just no world in which the two would be brothers convincingly, and Depp’s make-up exacerbates this.
It’s interesting to imagine Cumberbatch’s role being filled with its initial casting choice, Guy Pearce (who bailed prior to production), which may have potentially softened Depp’s overall ambience. While the performances on the whole are formidable, with some strong moments from the full team, there are some points the Bostonification creeps into slight parody, particularly from Edgerton and Depp’s comb-over.
The story itself is also not without some holes. Covering an almost two-decade period, it uses some broad strokes to set the scene, but ramps up in the third act to really deliver some punches. However, it never really shows the true relationship between Bulger and Connolly, so it’s left unclear whether this is a story of a bumbling, naive agent who gets in far too deep, or a classic tale of internal payoff and corruption.
Black Massopens in cinemas on Thursday October 8.
