Black Mass – Review

In a true story feature about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad person, Johnny Depp drops a gem of a performance. Black Mass centers on the story of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger (Depp), a vicious mobster turned FBI informant, and the waves of deadly chaos surrounding him.

Opening with gangster Kevin Weeks (Plemons) looking to make a deal and become a government witness, he wants to save himself from charges and give usable info on the Winter Hill gang. Flipping back to 1975 South Boston, Weeks starts his flashback tale of dishing out historical info to FBI agents.

Weeks bounces at a bar, keeping hooligans out. Inside, Winter Hill gang leader Whitey lays down the law. As trouble kicks off outside with the young kid Weeks, Whitey puts an end to it. Bulger enjoys using violence to make points.

The FBI forms a gangster task force, with officers Charles McGuire (Bacon), John Connolly (Edgerton), John Morris (Harbour) and Robert Fitzpatrick (Scott) leading the charge. Connolly is friends with the Bulger boys, going back to childhood, which includes state Senator Billy Bulger (Cumberbatch), a local politician and younger brother of Whitey. Billy stays ignorant to his brother’s actions, but Connoly gives him a dark warning.

As the gangsters get bolder and rivals square off, the heat moves in. How will all of these players mix it up when the bodies start dropping? Will the FBI remain clean, or will they get drug down dark paths into the world of crime themselves?

Based on a book, and featuring tons of expert actors, and a good enough script, Black Mass is a dark gangster flick which does not glorify anything about the men showcased. Awful people do disreputable things, relatively non-stop. Depp sinks into the role and delivers a wholly creepy and unnerving performance, ratcheting up the tension left and right. Pacing is pretty on point, and the story is intriguing based mostly on FBI task force choices.

While the film is a bit by the numbers, the sum of its parts puts it ahead of many others and gives it a strong overall quality. The experience is worth it for Depp alone, but thankfully there is enough going on for fans of crime or gangster films to give it a look. The true story nature makes it even creepier at times, considering how horrifying the gangsters are. For me, this film works pretty well despite a few minor shortcomings.