by Ryan Myers |
Living in the age of the anti-hero, it is easy to find stories about people doing the wrong things for the right reasons. Often, new shows and movies are praised for giving depth to the villain. The movie “Black Mass,” about the infamous James "Whitey" Bulger, goes against the grain in a way that I was not expecting.
Johnny Depp commands respect in his role as Bulger, capturing the intimidating and cold nature of the Boston gangster. With a cast that includes Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch and Kevin Bacon, there are many well-acted and well-developed roles to go around. The characters truly carried the story.
The plot definitely had a played out feel to it, as it tried to cover a large period of time which consisted mostly of scenes of visceral murder loosely tied together by moments of character development. Additionally, there is a plot following FBI agents fighting organized crime in Boston, which is periodically returned to.
Both plot lines seem to be relatively repetitive, with the FBI constantly several steps behind Bulger and his accomplices, and Bulger himself pretty much constantly killing, assaulting, or intimidating someone. Only in very key scenes do these molds really break, but that is where the disjointed feeling comes into play.
The movie serves better as a profile of Bulger than a high-quality mobster movie, which in some ways diminished the entertainment value. As a result, it did well to draw the viewer in with suspense and genuine interest in the characters being played.
The movie’s somewhat slow plot progression is compensated for in the way that the characters are realistically depicted. In a climate of extreme violence, betrayal and paranoia (mostly swirling around Bulger as the centerpiece), everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are highlighted. This leads to big problems for the audience though, as the weaknesses of most of the characters far outweighs their strengths, making it very difficult to find a person to connect with.
The story that is told is one of brutality, depravity and human imperfections. It stayed well away from the "live fast and die young" mentality that pervades gangster movies. The idolization of people who will do anything for a dollar is not a new phenomenon, but “Black Mass” does little to glorify the horror and violence that the kingpin carried out in Boston.
The movie is definitely worth a watch, but only if you know what you’re getting into. With murder and remorseless violence at every turn, it serves its purpose in that it captures the life and times of a truly detached individual as he dominates the criminal underworld. The story of James Bulger is one that captivates and fascinates, but in this particular case, it could have been executed better in the script.
Ryan Myers is a reporter for The Beacon. He can be reached at myersr17@up.edu.
