If the movie is anything to go on, James “Whitey” Bulger is not too complicated of a man. At times a nice guy, other times violent and ruthless in his pursuits, Bulger’s story is filled with deception, death and intimidation.
And the man is very good with those last two.
Johnny Depp steps into the shoes of “Whitey” Bulger in “Black Mass.” Based off of a book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill, which shares the same name, the story follows Bulger and his Winter Hill gang as they elevate themselves from the projects of South Boston to the top of the city’s criminal food chain with some help from the FBI.
That assistance comes from agent and Bulger's childhood friend John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), who offers him protection from a mafia group encroaching onto his turf. It’s the start of a beautiful “business deal” as Bulger puts it, but also the start of a whirlwind of deceit.
The story blinks back and forth between Bulger’s timeline and federal interviews with his gang’s core members after their arrests, giving the film a weighty sense of narration as it continues over the course of ten years (1975-1985). The boss’ unpredictability is one of the highlights, particularly in scenes where he appears to kill without reason.
However, a few of these deaths aren’t exactly explained and have no concrete conclusion by the time the credits roll. Though fearless as he was, this was done as a way to showcase Bulger’s frame of mind – someone who’d kill for even the smallest slight against him.
Framing these interviews and the film on a whole is some fine acting by the cast. Depp delivers Bulger in a gravel-voiced Boston accent, lending the right amount of charm and villainy when necessary. His psychological spiral downward mid film is handled just as well, when intimidation and malice go hand in hand with his personality – a part of him that remains creepily, and mostly calm.
Elsewhere, Benedict Cumberbatch gives us Bulger’s younger brother, Billy, a senator who wants little to do with his brother’s antics but stands by him nonetheless. A well-casted Kevin Bacon is here as Charles McGuire, head of the Boston FBI office and Connolly’s boss who’s torn between letting the partnership slide or pulling the plug.
The oft-seen Peter Sarsgaard plays the entertaining drug addict Brian, a snitch in every sense of the word. Corey Stoll’s brief role as Fred Wyshak makes him a believable district attorney who wants nothing more than to take out Bulger. David Harbour’s John Morris, Connolly’s partner, is handled just as well – the hapless and troubled follower to his friend’s antics.
You’ll notice that most of the larger roles belong to the federal side of the film, which is its biggest misstep. We see the government’s side of the tale, namely Connolly, for far too much of the film, perhaps even more than Bulger's side.
Don’t get me wrong: Edgerton handles the role decently, and does the dirty federal agent thing proper. His addiction to the criminal lifestyle and his desire to protect his friend at all costs is mesmerizing to watch and gives great sense of duality to the film: the one who is using, and the one who is being used.
But that’s all it is. It's a sense. Nothing concrete. Connolly’s scenes begin to grow so numerous through the two hour run time to the point where I’m learning more about him (and the Feds) more than I am Bulger and his gang. I get it – Bulger's information leading to arrests necessitates those scenes. But it’s still a bit much.
When we see Depp as Bulger, we see someone on a spiral, twisting through lost family members and handling psychological breaks with an absorbing menace (despite an obvious makeup job). I wanted to learn more about him and the Winter Hill gang’s business and get some weight to their actual rise inside Boston, instead of merely hearing about their racketeering and territory gains though the FBI office.
When it comes down to it, “Black Mass” is an overall fantastic film, supported by Depp at his finest and a tightly wound tale of deception and puppet-mastery. Each actor involved handles their role well, but the over-saturation of the FBI’s involvement and lack of actually seeing Bulger’s rise to the top bog the film down. It’s worth a watch, but difficult to recommend.
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