At the red carpet premiere of Black Mass in Boston, I got to ask Jesse Plemons, who plays Kevin Weeks and helps open the movie, who he thought was a worse person: Walter White or Whitey Bulger. You may remember Plemons from the show Breaking Bad, where he played the detested Todd. After thinking for a moment, Plemons said Whitey Bulger was worse. We asked if it was because he never saw Bulger in his tighty whities. He said it was because Bulger was real.
It’s easier to forgive, and actually like, characters like Walter White or Michael Corleone, who come from someone’s imagination. Here we actually see what corruption can bring: James “Whitey” Bulger was able to use his connections with law enforcement to literally get away with murder and become one of the most powerful gangsters in Boston history. This story is almost too crazy to believe.
The beginning of the movie moves slowly; initially I found myself thinking this story was done better by Martian Scorsese in The Departed. Scenes with Bulger’s son and family weren’t resonating with me. But every moment that left me hemming and hawing early in the movie paid off in a big way and by the end I sat thinking I wish I could have seen more. The movie is over two hours long but never feels that way.
But the weirdest thing about the movie is that it’s not even about Whitey Bulger. Yes Johnny Depp, who portrays the famous gangster, probably has the most screen time and his name and face are on all the posters. But Bulger stays static throughout the movie. Really the story is about the FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), who brought Bulger into the fold to help take down the Italian Mob. His character begins the movie with good intentions but what he does to keep his connection with the notorious mobster is what drives this story along.
However, Depp undeniably puts in a performance worthy of his top billing status. While sometimes you can tell you are looking at Johnny Depp playing Whitey Bulger, as the movie progresses you get lost in his sadistic eyes. Depp puts in the kind of performance that makes it worth buying a ticket, the kind we always expect from him but haven’t gotten in well over 5 years (Public Enemies? Sweeney Todd? Finding Neverland?). There is one particular scene that takes place in the Connolly’s house which wraps up the second act that is so unsettling it sent chills up my back. The movie’s soundtrack also does a fantastic job setting an eerie tone that keeps the audience from feeling comfortable throughout.
Most people will go into the theater knowing how the movie ends. The headlines were on every media outlet just four years ago. So though I knew what to expect when the credits rolled, I still felt let down by it. The ending scene starts with a fade up from black, which is fitting because it feels entirely different from the rest of the movie. Visually it looks out of place, and feels like something they slapped on after test audiences demanded to see it.
Black Mass takes a story almost too good to be true and brings it to life. I was expecting big things from this movie and at the very least I can say it satisfied all my expectations. It also gave us a different Johnny Depp than we have seen in years, one that still allows him to use his big, over-the-top personality to make the story great. B
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