Johnny Depp takes his crazy crazy ways and puts them to good use in the unhinged true-story thriller Black Mass, which arrived on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download in the UK at the end of March 2016. It wasn’t necessarily a must-see at cinemas, as the bigger screen and the close proximity of strangers doesn’t really add much in this situation, but now that it’s available for home entertainment, it’s definitely one to add to your watch-list with its serious intensity and impressive acting skills.
However, it’s probably more of rental for us than a new addition to the DVD collection, because we’re just not quite sure how much re-watch potential there is to the film with it’s dark portrayal of Whitey Bulger’s rise to kingpin prominence in Boston and his eventual fall from savage criminal grace. The exceptions to this would be the seriously homicidal hunting for tips, crime initiates looking for a note of why it doesn’t pay and actors looking for a constant reminder of how to deliver a completely immersed character performance.
That aside, Black Mass is a thoroughly absorbing movie that keeps you gripped in Johnny Depp’s death stare from start to bitter end. The story was always going to be the story, although it is well crafted, but the real success of the film comes on the back of great performances on the part of the cast, led brilliantly by Depp as Whitey Bulger, along with a very gritty and ultimately believable recreation of late 70s and early 80s Boston as the backdrop for all of the mayhem.
Depp isn’t quite unrecognisable as the main offender of the piece, but it is a remarkable transformation on his part, and not just in terms of the make-up and hair. He’s fully committed to the character in every scene, delivering a performance that if we’re honest we’re not used to seeing from him. He’s ruthless and unrelenting, which gives the story the spiky backbone it needed.
He’s supported by a solid performance from Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), who plays his brother, US senator William “Billy” Bulger, and Joel Edgerton (Midnight Special) is conniving and forceful as Bulger’s FBI handler and general confident John Connolly. Kevin Bacon (X-Men: First Class) is a bit too much of a bit-part player to stand out as Connolly’s FBI boss Charles McGuire, but Corey Stoll (Ant-Man) is unshakable as DA Fred Wyshak.
There are almost too many names in the cast that deserve a mention, which is as much a tribute to director Scott Cooper as it is to the cast. Rory Cochrane is a bedraggled lackey as Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, Jesse Plemons is a naive bruiser stooge as Keven Weeks and Peter Sarsgaard is the desperate rebel as his position deteriorates in the firing line of Whitey. Dakota Johnson is also very good as Connolly’s wife Lindsey with some tough scenes to deliver, while also holding a certain amount of inner strength in the role.
What Cooper has crafted, with the help of a ferocious story from writers Jez Butterworth and Mark Malouk, is a taut real life thriller that makes for very compelling viewing. Perhaps there’s not quite the right amount of Whitey eventually getting brought to justice, or his years in hiding, but there’s still enough despicable nature from Depp to take the charm away from the character, leaving a ruthless killer of a crime boss. It covers the control he had over the FBI as much as the streets of Boston and shows the extent people will go to for their own gains, which in this case seems more psychological than monetary.
While all of that isn’t enough to make the Black Mass DVD one that you’ll return to often, even with the added interest of the feature on Johnny Depp’s transformation into Bulger, it is a film that is well worth seeing. It doesn’t glorify the man it has at the dark heart of the real-life story, instead it dissects him through the development of his character and his affairs with those around him.
Black Mass DVD review: 3.9/5
