Brute's "Black Mass" *Non-Spoiler* Review

Finally a movie worth talking about! While Black Mass is not a great movie it does a lot of things right to be considered a very good one.  Black Mass tells the story of Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp) who becomes an FBI informant for his childhood friend, John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), to help take down the Italian mafia moving in on his turf. Unfortunately for Connolly, Bulger has in own agenda as well and uses his alliance to help himself become a kingpin.  Johnny Depp is sensational in his leading role as Bulger.  He brings both the psychotic side and evil side of Bulger and puts them together for a performance that at times will gives you the chills. His presence is felt so strongly on screen; it is by far the best part of this movie. Not to be outdone, Joel Edgerton brings another great performance to Black Mass. Edgerton’s Connolly shows so much unwavering support of Bulger, he becomes both naive and biased towards him even when the people around him tell him otherwise. Edgerton makes you simultaneously sympathize for him because he is being used and frustrated with him because it is clear and he is oblivious to it. The supporting cast also has few highlights as well. Benedict Cumberbatch (Billy Bulger), David Harbour (John Morris), and Jesse Plemons (Kevin Week) all are very memorable even though they do not have substantial parts in the film. Director Scott Cooper (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me) does a fair job that leaves you wondering that if they had a more experienced director, this movie could have been great. There were parts of the film that dragged on a bit too long and maybe a better director could have done a better job with the film’s pacing. Credit to him though, he left us with a very good movie.

Conclusion: Black Mass has some pacing issues but the movie itself is good enough to the point where they are forgivable. Black Mass is very heavy at points and will make you need time to settle down afterwards. But that is what a good movie will do. Johnny Depp gives one of his performances alongside an almost equally great Joel Edgerton, and a few others. Those performances are worth the price of admission alone. You will definitely be hearing about Black Mass and its two stars come award season. Black Mass is worth the watch.   

GRADE:      B+