Black Mass (2015), R, ★★★

Oh, brother...What has Depp gotten himself into this time?

The mob genre has generated some of the most classical and disciplined movies of our history...The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, GoodFellas, White Heat, The Departed, etc. But, it is GoodFellas that set the bar, a real high bar because it is about one of the two or three perfect mob movies ever made, that sort of gets you into that 1970s era where you're a participant or witness with the gangsters laughing and speculating. Criminal deeds of organized crime is a hark for major trouble for the streets and can cause the population to decline no matter what. Even distribution of drugs and other illegal items can make some people in the high security system suspicious. This movie about Whitey Bulger is a case of transcending the genre of a true story into high-tugged suspense with a standout performance from Johnny Depp.

James "Whitey" Bulger (Johnny Depp) is a small-time leader and gangster of and leader of the Irish-American Walter Hill Gang, controls almost of all of the crime of South Boston with the help of companions: his right-hand man, Stephen Flemmi (Rory Cochrane), newcomer Kevin Weeks (Jesse Plemmons) and Johnny Martorano (W. Earl Brown). He has an issue with another gang trying to control South Boston.

When John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), a former native and lifelong friend of Whitey and his brother Billy Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is a Boston senator. Connolly is in an advanced position in the FBI to go after the gang who is trying to control South Boston, who are avoiding police detection. Connolly talks to Billy about talking to Whitey about being an informant for the FBI. Whitey refuses initially but after thinking about his wife, Lindsey (Dakota Johnson) and son, Douglas, and a member of the Walter Hill gang is murdered, he decides it is best to become an FBI informant.

Tensions increase as things in his family life go sour, his relationship with Lindsey goes downhill and his informant rules of no crime and killing get in Whitey's head, he goes unhinged as Connolly is trying to get information of the racketeering from the Anguilo Brothers. However, things also go awry as Connolly becomes closer to Whitey as he forgets that that he is part of the gang.

Hahaha. Friends or mortal opponents?

This is Boston's Mean Streets as we see a man's corruption tying into a long friendship that threatens both the FBI's reputation and Bulger's reputation. The informant activity becomes dangerous between gangster and friend as this will incept the predictable downfall of a gangster that is uncontrolled but is controlled by good deeds. However, it is his own violent mannerisms that define Bulger as an infamous criminal that is like a undisturbed snake that wakes up and bites you. Depp looks like an evil snake with that cold and devious state and personality.

The reason I recommend the movie is Johnny Depp's compelling performance. It is his best role since his haunting character in the movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He is riveting as a man who is conflicted about his self-control between working with a friend in the FBI and committing cold crimes in the streets of Boston. Joel Edgerton is quite good as his friend and informant who tries to do some good by being friends with a criminal but is opposed by people in the FBI. Dakota Johnson, even though she does not do much but cry, has acting chops and could have been a bigger character. Benedict Cumberbatch is fine but his accent is a bit distracting at times. But there is not much going for the other talented actors such as Kevin Bacon, Corey Stoll, Adam Scott and Peter Sarsgaard because there are too many characters who are irrelevant to the main story.

The main problem with this movie is that the material has the potential to become a great movie that the subplots regarding his brother and the FBI are unnecessary. There are echoes of harrowing power and self-discipline that the film borrows too much from the great director, Martin Scorsese's movies. There are scenes that sort of parody GoodFellas, like a dinner table scene (which was subtle and good on its own, Mean Streets and The Departed that the movie becomes self-centered. Scott Cooper, the director, creates a cold environment in its suspenseful story that we do not want to be a part of that era. Despise the parodies of self-centered dialogue and unnecessary subplots, the film, as a whole, is a well-acted solid mob movie of a depiction of a man in criminal history torn and pressured by the law and his personal life. It is also a reincarnation of Johnny Depp's chameleon acting that made this entertaining mob movie.

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