An Intriguing Story Becomes a String of Mildly Engaging Events
The story of James "Whitey" Bulger is an inherently interesting one. Leader of the Boston Irish crew known as the Winter Hill Gang, Bulger was an FBI informant who became a kingpin and then disappeared until his recent arrest. Jack Nicholson's character in Martin Scorsese's The Departed was loosely based on Bulger, and that film remains the better depiction of the Boston crime boss.
Scott Cooper's Black Mass, which chronicles Bulger's time as an informant and his rise in power, is packed with great performances but little direction and momentum. Certain characters, crimes, and rackets come in and out of the film, as they do in films like The Godfather and Goodfellas, but rather than feel like pieces in Bulger's multifaceted operation, they feel like disparate crimes that drift in and out of what the audience gets to see. Black Mass focuses on the relationship between Bulger, played here by Johnny Depp, and Joel Edgerton's Agent John Connolly of the FBI (a childhood friend of Bulger), but doesn't go deep enough into either character to deliver much in the way of emotional heft. Though what we get of each character's work and private lives is engaging, little tension mounts over the course of the film. Instead we're left with glimpses into a tighter, more focused version of the film that will never be.
Take for example a terrific scene set at Connolly's house. He's invited Bulger over for dinner, but his wife (Julianne Nicholson) doesn't wish to dine with the kingpin. When Whitey goes upstairs to "check" on his friend's wife, a tense and wonderfully acted scene plays out that keeps you on the edge of your seat. If only the whole film were that way.
Also absent is a greater sense of the South Boston community's love for Bulger (save for one brief scene early on) as a Robin Hood figure, something that would have contrasted greatly with the horrific crimes he commits. Without this extra dimension, part of Bulger's motivation is lost. I left the theater with no clear sense as to why Bulger did what he did, outside of assuming he was greedy. There's no, "I always wanted to be a gangster," kind of moment as there is in Goodfellas—neither for Bulger nor Connolloy—so both characters remain complex mysteries.
Despite the muddled story, the production design and costumes seem spot-on for 1975 and the following 20 year period covered in the film. The performances are similarly pitch-perfect. Johnny Depp is unrecognizable, both due to subtle makeup and a measured performance that renders his Bulger well above an impersonation, despite the finished film's lack of depth. He's always magnetic onscreen, even when the scenes around him start to sag. Joel Edgerton—given a bit more meat for his character—is excellent as Connolly, delivering a seamless Boston accent along with a nuanced arc from FBI rookie to big shot without falling into caricature. Filling out the cast are, among others, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Dakota Johnson, Adam Scott, the aforementioned Julianne Nicholson, and a standout Peter Sarsgaard. Not a bad turn in the bunch.
Though Black Mass establishes a fine atmosphere and fills it with a uniformly excellent cast, it fails to cohere into a compelling whole. Many individual scenes work well, so it's not clear whether the problems exist in the script or the edit bay. What is clear is that somewhere along the line Whitey Bulger's captivating true story became a series of moments that fail to live up to their source.