Black Mass

Bulger's playing us, making a fool of the Bureau. We're in too deep, and he knows it! God help us all.

Black Mass is the story of Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp), who was the brother of a state senator and the infamous violent leader of South Boston's Winter Hill Gang. It charts his criminal activities and his subsequent dealings with the FBI.

Directed by Scott Cooper, Black Mass is one of those instances where a great lead performance deserves a better over all film. Depp literally inhabits the role of Bulger in a fully formed perf that reminds us of what a fine actor he can be. Unfortunately the edgy material to hand never really ignites in filmic form. Maybe we were spoilt by the offerings of Coppola and Scorsese previously? For this ...

Second time watching this and honestly outside a couple of scenes, I barely remembered anything. Thought the acting was fine, as was the direction but considering the cast that included Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon and others, thought what an epic crime-thriller could've been instead was a solid enough film but not much more than that. Also, the make-up job done on Depp was distracting more than anything. 3.5/5