Black Mass [Blu-ray] [2015]
- Details
- Format: Blu-ray
- Program Type: Movie
- Other
- Product Name: Black Mass [Blu-ray] [2015]
- UPC: 883929457786
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- Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Depp delivers a solid Bulger performance
Johnny Depp continues to impress with his ability to transform himself fully into a character he portrays. The cold and calculating ways he portrays in Black Mass demonstrates his vast acting ability. The plot is a bit slow at times, and that's the only reason I didn't give this movie a 5-star rating.
Posted by YellaDragon11
- Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Amazing movie!
Theatrical review. Possible spoilers. Johnny Depp is no stranger to playing notorious criminals. Even discounting Captain Jack Sparrow, he was John Dillinger in 2009's "Public Enemies." Here he plays a more modern gangster, James Bulger. Set at the height of Bulger's power in Boston of the late 1970's and early 80's, Depp provides a masterful portrayal of the criminal psychopath. At the suggestion of an ambitious FBI agent, John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), Bulger strikes an unholy alliance suggested by the title. Connolly and Bulger were childhood friends. Bulger will provide inside info on the Italian Cosa Nostra who control crime in North Boston. In return, Connolly will turn the other way when it comes to his reign in the South. The only proviso, no killing. Bulger who hates to be called - his friends call him Jimmy - doesn't keep his promise. (Note: We never learn why he was called by the FBI.) He has no tolerance for what he considers misbehavior from his own gang, let alone those who get in his way. As usual, with characters like this, Bulger has another side. In one scene, he escorts an elderly woman from his old neighborhood to her apartment. She says, "You're such a nice boy." He also loves his young son, Douglas (Luke Ryan). In a dinner time scene with his girlfriend, Lindsey (Dakota Johnson) and mother of Douglas, he confronts his son who has gotten into trouble at school for fighting. He tells the boy in front of the frustrated Lindsey, that his mistake wasn't the fighting, it was that he did it in front of others. It's all about the time and place, says Jimmy. Bulger has few characteristics that are noteworthy other than he has an extremely violent streak and insists that his underlings (Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane) be equally brutal. The film is equally contemptuous about Connolly who sees bringing down the Sicilians an important step in his career and those around him. Not so sure are some of his partners and certainly his wife, Marianne, brilliantly played by Julianne Nicholson ("August: Osage County"). In a great scene at the Connolly home where Bulger is attending, `Whitey' confronts Marianne who is ensconced in her bedroom not wanting to associate with Bulger. It is tense, creepy and scary as heck. The film is supported by an excellent cast. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Jimmy's younger brother Billy, a state senator; Kevin Bacon is Connolly's boss, Charles McGuire; Adam Scott and David Harbour play Connolly's FBI partners. Scott Cooper guides an overloaded cast through some terrific scenes and well-documented conclusion to Bulger's reign of terror in Boston and Miami. The look of the film is authentic and Depp has his best role in many years. Recommended.
Posted by CTB80
- Rated 4 out of 5 stars
A Violent Mobster Movie
The film tells the true story of Jimmy “Whitey” Bulger, played by a heavily made up Johnny Depp, who has been nominated for Best Actor for his performance by the Screen Actors Guild. The film begins in 1975. In South Boston, Jimmy’s empire includes drugs, prostitution and racketeering. His chief rival is Jerry Angiulo, who heads the Italian mafia, a prime target of the FBI. Jimmy Connolly, well played by Joel Edgerton, who wrote, directed and starred as Gordo in 2015’s excellent The Gift, is an FBI agent and childhood friend of Whitey. He owes Whitey for protecting him when they were kids. He proposes a secret arrangement that will benefit Whitey by allowing him to serve as an FBI informant on the Italian mafia, while they look the other way on his illegal activities. As Connolly gets in deeper and deeper with Whitey, we see him begin to dress, act and even walk differently, and have relationship difficulties with his boss (Kevin Bacon) and wife Marianne (Julianne Nicholson). Fellow-agent John Morris (David Harbour) works with Connelly on this arrangement for several years until he can take it no longer. Lead Prosecutor Fred Wyshak (Corey Stoll from House of Cards) can’t figure out why Bulger and his group continues to rule Boston right under the nose of the FBI. The film is told in flashbacks as Bulger’s inner circle Kevin Weeks (Jesse Plemons), Steve Flemmi (Rory Cochrane) and John Martorano (W. Earl Brown), to lessen their sentences, years later provide the FBI with information about Whitey. Bulger is portrayed as a brutal monster, showing kindness only to his card-cheating mother, girlfriend (Dakota Johnson), his young son (Luke Ryan), and Massachusetts State Senator and University President brother Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Imitation Game). This is an amazing true story. Bulger would become number two (behind only Osama bin Laden) on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list during the 16 years he was in hiding before his capture in California in 2011. It features a strong cast, led by Depp, who continues to show his versatility as an actor, and the multi-talented Edgerton, who builds on his critically acclaimed work in The Gift.
This review is from Black Mass [DVD] [2015]
Posted by Tranceboi1
