BLACK MASS : Saturday 10th October 2015.

BLACK MASS which I saw over the weekend is a true crime true life American drama thriller as Directed by Scott Cooper and based on the life and times of the Boston based Irish American mobster James Joseph 'Whitey' Bulger as portrayed here by Johnny Depp. Born in 1929, this films kicks off in 1975 by which time we learn that Bulger had already served time in his youth in juvenile detention and then nine years on Alcatraz and Leavenworth Prisons having been released in 1965. It would be another 46 years before Bulger would see the inside of a prison cell again. This film was made for US$53M and at the time of writing has made US$56M. The story is based on the 2001 book 'Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob' as written by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill.

We open up with Jimmy Bulger a small time but nonetheless reasonably powerful mobster who has control over the underworld activities of South Boston in the mid-70's and has grown up amidst a life of crime. He has moved up to control the Winter Hill Gang with his henchmen Stephen Flemmi (Rory Cochrane), new kid on the block Kevin Weeks (Jesse Plemmons) and his associate hit-man Johnny Martorano (W. Earl Brown). His hold over 'Southie' is under challenge from the Italian American Angiulo Brothers from Boston's North End. Whilst Bulger is keen at almost any cost to oust the Angiulo's, the FBI have an active interest too, and it is here that an unlikely alliance is forged.

Bulger grew up in Southie on the same street as John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) who now has recently returned to Boston as a high ranking Agent in the F.B.I. Connolly is keen to make a name for himself and sees that taking down the Angiulo Crime Clan is his ticket. Bulger, his Brother William 'Billy' Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch) who is now in high office as the President of the Massachusetts State Senate, and Connolly grew up on the streets together and there is a strong bond that binds the three despite the different directions their lives have taken.

To aid him in his pursuit of the Angiulo's he strikes a deal with Bulger to turn over evidence that will help bring down that crime family in exchange for him being allowed to go about his business on the condition that there are no murders caused either directly or indirectly by his own hand, and no criminal activity linked to him. Needless to say with Bulger's pedigree it is highly unlikely that he'll be able to comply.

As Connolly clashes with his Boss at the Bureau, Charles McGuire (Kevin Bacon) because leads to the Angiulo's are thin on the ground and Bulger is increasingly getting away with murder. Connolly's loyalties over time become divided and he finds himself becoming deeper and deeper entrenched in Bulger's underworld activities which continue to grow from strength to strength as time progresses, and his reach extends further afield. It's a fine line that starts to impact on Connolly's family life and his wife, Marianne (Julianne Nicholson) who is disapproving of the time that her husband spends with those criminal types and enjoying some of the trappings of Bulger's criminal success.

As Bulger gets deeper and deeper into more far reaching activities down in Florida with an embezzlement scheme around the World Jai Alai series, and with an arms smuggling effort back to Ireland to support the Provisional IRA, so the spotlight tunes on Bulger when a new District Attorney Fred Wyshak (Corey Stoll) is appointed to the local branch of the FBI where Connolly is stationed. Questions begin to be asked about Bulger and why it is that for so long he has evaded arrest, and why Connolly has allowed this to happen.

As time progresses Wyshak and McGuire dig deeper into Connolly's former records and discover a trail of misinformation, cover ups and falsified statements to take the scent off Bulger and protect his own interests. Former colleague of Connolly, John Morris (David Harbour) knows that by association  he too will be under very close scrutiny and could potentially go down for the part he has played in covering for Bulger (and Connolly) over the years, so he confides in a tell-all interview with The Boston Globe newspaper. This hits the headlines in the days that follow with Bulger making front page news as an F.B.I. informant since 1975. Bulger knows that the writing is on the wall for him and that this will mark the beginning of the end.

As the final chapter draws to a close Connolly, Weeks, Martorano and Flemmi are arrested and serve various sentences we are advised in the closing credits. Budget however, evades arrest and goes on the run in the mid-90's and again the closing credits tell us there were several sightings of him around the world in the ensuing years, but in 2011 he was tracked down and arrested outside his Santa Monica apartment. For sixteen years Bulger went on the run, and during this time his former henchmen turned evidence against him in order to seek reduced sentences, immunity, and protection. Billy Bulger meanwhile plays the close caring and stoic brother maintaining his family ties with visits to the ageing mother, dinner parties and family get togethers, but is largely in denial over his brothers criminal dealings lest it gets in the way of his political career.

This film gives Depp a chance to step out of the mould that we have become more accustomed to since he stepped into his 'Pirates' mantle and has worked with Tim Burton. He cold steely blue eyes are piercing and menacing, his slicked back hair, and pale complexion tells us that this is a man not to be crossed or messed with. Many that did paid the ultimate price, even those closest to him and the fact that this is real, within our own life times and that the man himself is still alive and locked up for his remaining life at United States Penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida, adds to the weight of the story and its resonance.

All that said, despite the strong performances from Depp, Cumberbatch and Edgerton especially who are the standouts here, the story is repetitive and lumbering. We see Bulger kicking, beating, strangling, shooting his way through the film time after time and after several of these I am wondering what is this all about as it becomes jumbled and labouring. I am wondering how the F.B.I. can be so incompetent, and how did no other authorities at the time even catch a sniff of what Bulger was up to so as to raise some suspicion. After all there were 19 or so murders with which he has been linked both directly or indirectly, and these all went undetected??

For the Depp, Cumberbatch and Edgerton performances this film is worth seeking out, but we join the film when Bulger is already 46 when the film opens and we then track his life for 20 years at his height before it all goes pear shaped and he goes on the run for 16 years, with the last four years in custody. I felt a little short-changed by lack of the before and after story which is given a very cursory glance over only. You can catch this on the big screen, or wait for the DVD or BluRay.



Steve, at Odeon Online-