‘Black Mass’: Johnny Depp transforms into a monster of a mobster

All the [potential] artifice – the Boston accent, all that sort of stuff – it’s just window dressing.

There are few films, outside of the horror genre, where a character’s exterior so aptly mirrors the evil brutality within as Johnny Depp’s James “Whitey” Bulger in the gripping and brutal crime saga “Black Mass“.

Many wonder if Bulger is being somehow protected by his younger brother, Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch), a clean-cut state senator who becomes the city’s preeminent power broker (and later president of the University of Massachusetts). In perhaps the most memorable sequence, Bulger sardonically tests a childhood friend (Joel Edgerton) for loyalty by teasing out a “secret” steak sauce in what’s basically a reworking/homage of Joe Pesci’s famous “I’m amusing , how?” scene in “GoodFellas”.

But his misguided handling of the three principals keeps the film at a disappointing distance from us.

As usual, Cooper didn’t rehearse or give the performers many takes, especially Edgerton and Depp.

“Black Mass”, the film which stars Johnny Depp as convicted Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, opens on September 18 amid critical acclaim for Depp’s performance. It’s been that way for a while now, but this week, Depp is back in a big way with Black Mass, his first legitimate awards vehicle in years.

Depp’s Bulger is chilling and eccentric yet also measured and understated; the character never verges into hammy territory. But it’s a key moment in the film, showing us the full scope of Bulger’s cruelty. The script, by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, glosses over the “business” side of Bulger’s outfit (how he maintains control over South Boston); his progression from small-time crook to top dog is somewhat vague. While Black Mass is far from being a pack of lies, Cooper was able to craft a visually arresting aesthetic with cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi (the pair previously worked together on Out of the Furnace).

“No disrespect to any victims or families of victims, but there was some element for me that was kind of glad that he got away”, he added. Connolly promises his boss (Kevin Bacon) he can get information from Whitey Bulger that will help the district attorney take down the Italians – and help contain the Winter Hill gang as well.

He’s the central figure of a crime drama that creeps and drips blood like a horror movie, and in many respects it is.

The story, though, is gripping and well-paced – lean and tight at just a smidge over two hours, when you know they probably could have easily stuffed it with another 30 minutes of murder and mayhem.

Both Experimenter and Black Mass are based on true stories, as is Sarsgaard’s other fall release, Pawn Sacrifice. And so it is that “Black Mass“, which finds Depp generating awards talk, makes a complicated story coherent without dumbing it down (much), lets a bunch of strong actors do their things, and yet inspires little more than adjectives like “efficient” and “workmanlike”.