How is Johnny Depp’s portrayal of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger in ‘Black Mass’?

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). But the sneer on his face and his semi-passable Boston accent work, and the strong supporting cast matches him.

That may sound juicy, but it’s not. Also, ten years ago, my real focus was on just playing characters who were as irreverent as possible”, the star noted, claiming after his 2004 period piece The Libertine bombed, “all I wanted to do from then on is comedy. He’s a terrifying force that can turn excessively violent on a dime, and nobody in his crosshairs is safe.

The filmmaker gets closer to answering the critical question of “why”, as in why tell this story at all, in the way he draws out Bulger’s relationship with FBI Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), a fellow Southie who protected Bulger as an “informant”, but remained more loyal to his childhood friend than the interests of the bureau.

Speaking to The AP, Depp previously said: “No matter how good that person is deemed, no matter how bad that person is deemed, by anyone and everyone, my responsibility was to do my best to represent him in a human light”. It’s like these mean guys exist in a vacuum, outside the occasional murder in broad daylight.

Aside from Depp and Edgerton, “Black Mass” also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, David Harbour, Adam Scott, Corey Stoll and Julianne Nicholson, among others. It doesn’t help that director Scott Cooper must follow in the footsteps of more dynamic pictures like Brian De Palma’s “Carlito’s Way”; Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” and “The Departed” (in which Jack Nicholson played a character inspired by Bulger); and Mike Newell’s “Donnie Brasco“, which starred Depp as an undercover FBI agent.

The best Cooper wants for Black Mass is that the film sets the record straight.

They’re all Irish Americans who grew up in the same housing project, a tie that will bind and burn, and John proposes an “alliance” between himself and Jimmy. And while Depp’s physical transformation may be an exaggeration on what the actual man looks like, his layered, chilling performance makes it disturbingly real.

Meanwhile, Connelly becomes a master at manipulating the clockwork of the FBI’s procedural philosophy by creating fake reports (as we learn later) and giving Bulger credit for the eventual downfall of the Italian mob in Boston, which, of course, only made Whitey more powerful.

Some of the actors being touted on the movie’s poster barely show up in the film. The film doesn’t shy away from showing us the graphic, disturbing details of Bulger’s wrath.

The film tells the story of infamous Boston criminal James “Whitey” Bulger. Especially people involved in or affected by the years of thuggery by Bulger and his Winter Hill Gang in South Boston.