Joel Edgerton Talks ‘Black Mass’, Favorite Scenes, Jeff Nichols’ ‘Loving’, and

This decision was a blessing in a lot of ways. I mean, he didn’t drop it completely. “Black Mass” is like a playlist of greatest hits from other, better movies. Because that sort of thing is just getting tiresome at this point. Some of them fare better than others.

For a gangster film, Black Mass isn’t terribly exciting: It lacks the cheerful invective of The Departed or the masterful set pieces of The Town.

But unlike “Everest”, which shares a release date with “Black Mass“, Cooper uses his ensemble cast right, or at least better. This is a bleak, punishing, tale, with dingy neighborhood locations, a drab color scheme, and just about no glamour to speak of, with only fleeting female nudity or drugs. Even smaller roles, like the short scenes with Juno Temple, reveal an attention to capturing the reality of the time as Temple manages to portray fear, humor, confusion, and seduction within a matter of minutes.

Some scenes in the solid, vividly acted gangster picture Black Mass come from real life, or something like it. These trade off with scenes yanked straight out of the movies. Dakota Johnson, as Bulger’s common law wife Lindsey Cyr, stands out, riding the line between steeliness and sweetness in her scenes with Depp.

“I am not asking you to help me”, Connolly says, a desperate attempt for protection from federal prosecutor Fred Wyshak. I found it compelling and entertaining, and fairly well-directed by Cooper. “The emotional and psychological transformation that I saw in the man who is sweet and gentle and kind and thoughtful into that?” And it’s based on real-life events. As Bulger and his right-hand men – Steve Flemmi (Rory Cochrane), Kevin Weeks (Jesse Plemons), and hitman John Martorano (W. Earl Brown) – tighten their grip on the Boston underworld and beyond, Connolly falsifies reports, feeds information, and generally blusters his way through an elaborate shell game to shield Bulger from the increasingly skeptical eyes of fellow agent Robert Fitzpatrick (Adam Scott) and his superior, Charles McGuire (Kevin Bacon). Thanks primarily to the F.B.I. looking the other way, from the mid-seventies to the mid-nineties this sociopath disguised as a gangster was able to build a South Boston crime empire. It’s definitely a must watch though, as the actors performances are stellar. He’s scary as hell, and believable enough in the role that I stopped noticing his ridiculous bald cap after not too long.

The film is told somewhat as a flashback through the testimonies and confessions of Whitey’s many criminal associates.

Notorious crime lord Whitey Bulger made f*ckery his day job. Slightly puffy and puffed-up when the movie begins, he only grows more so as it unfolds.

So, what’s ultimately missing from Black Mass? But Depp is probably at his most playful here, and even though we don’t actually see him, he still crafted a character with quirky charms and oddball characteristics, just with his voice.

This unholy alliance sits firmly at the center of the action as Bulger manipulates a willing Connolly to step further into an amoral rabbit hole.

What it was like to film on location. They are atrocious, an argument for giving local talent a shot at more screen time if only to spare us from the onslaught of tortured dialogue. This rise was abetted by the fact that, unbeknownst to most of his gang members, he had turned informant for the FBI in 1975-encouraged by Connolly, whom he knew since the latter was a boy growing up in the same neighbourhood.

This is also the case when considering Cumberbatch’s turn as Billy Bulger.