There’s a hole in Black Mass and it’s in the shape of Goodfellas
Black Mass is the new film about the Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, played by Johnny Depp. Bulger, who went on the lam in 2003 and was finally arrested in 2011, consolidated his crime empire by becoming an informant for the FBI. Depp, whose recent film output consists of flops and stinkers, has declared that he doesn’t want to win an Oscar. We are pleased to inform him that there is little danger of that happening because of this movie.
It’s not that Depp isn’t a good actor. In the right project, he could blow us away. But the filmmakers have squandered their material. Whitey Bulger was the most powerful criminal in Boston while his brother the Senator (Benedict Cumberbatch) was the most powerful politician in Boston, but we don’t see much of their relationship other than their mutual devotion to their ma. Apart from looking menacing with his bald head and blackened teeth, Depp has little to do. Joel Edgerton as his childhood friend the ambitious FBI agent has more to work with. Sure, Depp’s Jimmy goes from smiling bonhomie to murderous fury in zero seconds, but after two or three instances of this, the violence becomes predictable. Director Scott Cooper is following the tracks made by better directors so obediently, Black Mass feels like homework by a diligent, not particularly adventurous student.
When making a mob movie, a director needs to repeat these words three times when he gets up and three times when he goes to bed:
I am not Martin Scorsese.
I am not Martin Scorsese.
I am not Martin Scorsese.
(Repeat)
There’s a giant hole in the heart of Black Mass, and it’s in the shape of Goodfellas. While watching Black Mass (We don’t get the title, which makes it sound like a satanic horror movie or a cancer scare movie. This just in: a reader says Mass is probably short for Massachusetts. Oh.), we could not stop thinking of Goodfellas. This is unfair, we know. The reputation of Scorsese’s movie has only grown since it premiered 25 years ago. Every time it was on TV we found ourselves watching it again because it’s so vivid, so alive that there seemed a possibility that the story would veer off in a completely different direction (or go Purple Rose of Cairo on us).
Goodfellas is a dangerous movie, not because of the violence, but because it made us understand the lure of crime. Because it’s fun!
Maybe Johnny Depp shouldn’t work with Scorsese because he might get an Oscar, get an Oscar.
Rating: Missable. Even second-tier Scorsese (The Departed) is more compelling.
We’ll review Sicario when our synapses stop sparking from the sight of Benicio del Toro.
Tomorrow we’re doing a QCinemarathon.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 29th, 2015 at 01:29
I’ve long suspected Johnny Depp to be a poorly talented actor, but would receive gasps of disbelief each time I uttered my suspicion. Nope, just never found him great.
Turns out he’s quite the unsavory guy offscreen as well (he refused to pay taxes in France, claiming to be American, and refused to pay taxes in the US because he’s a French resident?)
My guess for the title: Black Mass, since it’s about the dirty underside of Massachusetts?
October 30th, 2015 at 06:42
ahhh…Beneeeeeethio. will watch that one.