“If no one sees it, it didn’t happen.”
These were the words Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger
lived and thrived by, a philosophy of denial and evasion upon which he built a
criminal empire all the while justifying his criminal activity with a survival
of the fittest mentality. Scott Cooper’s Black Mass, a gripping, entertaining film from first frame to last, chronicles
the criminal’s rise to power, told by those who knew him best – his colleagues,
his enemies and those he manipulated like so many toys at his disposal. Based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerard
O’Neill, the film has a familiar narrative arc to it, yet what makes it stand
out in a sea of gangster epics are the brilliant performances from the veteran
cast that’s been assembled, especially the two leads Johnny Depp and Joel
Edgerton, who bring life to a pair of men who were more alike than appearances
would indicate.
The story is told through a series of flashbacks provided by
Bulger’s fellow mobsters, who are seen behind bars, ratting out the man that
provided them with more swag and swagger than they knew what to do with. The time is the mid-1970’s and the place is
South Boston, a predominantly Irish-American community that takes care of their
own, looking at anyone involved in a criminal enterprise as an entrepreneur to
be feared. None were more powerful than
Bulger, a stone cold killer and unofficial head of the Winter Hill Boys, a ruthless
gang that included his right-hand man Steve Flemmi (Rory Cochrane), assassin
John Martorano (W. Earl Brown) and low-level lieutenant Kevin Weeks (Jesse
Plemons) among others.
Like any organization of power, many on the outside long to
be a part of it and that was certainly the case with FBI Agent John Connolly
(Joel Edgerton), a childhood friend of Bulger’s who returns to Boston and seeks
to make a name for himself. His plan to
do so will kill two birds with one stone – he approaches Bulger with an offer
he can’t refuse. If he will provide
information that will help the agency take down the Angiulo Family, a growing
mob presence in North Boston, he’ll be able to operate as he sees fit while the
federal authorities look the other way.
No dummy, Bulger takes this deal and runs with it, building a criminal
empire throughout the 1980’s that would stretch down the East Coast to Florida.
The drama that plays out here is Shakespearean in nature as
Connolly is corrupted not only by the praise he gets from his superiors when
this unholy alliance initially bears fruit but by his close proximity to Bulger
and the power he wields. The lines
between right and wrong blur in the man and Edgerton does an exceptional job
showing Connolly’s gradual transformation from good to evil. Watch how the physicality of his performance,
the way in which he speaks and the look in his eyes slowly changes over the
course of the film and you see an actor fully engaged in bringing authenticity
to his character. It’s an astounding turn that will likely garner Edgerton a
Best Supporting Oscar nomination.
Sure to be recognized by the Academy as well will be Depp,
who fully transforms himself into an amoral beast, incapable of mercy or
compassion. With his icy cool blue eyes
sunken deep in his head and his ever-receding hairline, the actor takes on a
skeletal appearance, the embodiment of death itself. While physical transformations are nothing
new for Depp, the difference here is that his character is firmly based in
reality. There are no unnecessary affectations at play here and there’s never a
moment when his movie star persona peeks from behind the veil. Depp gives a fully immersive performance that
may be the best work he’s done, the key being that it’s grounded in authentic human
behavior, requiring the actor to dig deep for sincere emotion, all of which he
displays on the screen to magnificent effect.
If the film has a fault it is that it skimps on details
where Bulger’s personal life is concerned. Early on, we see him interact with Lindsey
Cyr (Dakota Johnson), a woman who gave birth to his only son who dies
tragically young. It’s implied that this
death as well as that of his mother had a profound effect on Bulger, skewing
his moral universe. While there’s surely
some validity to this, the man was involved with other women (Sienna Miller
filmed scenes as one of Bulger’s ex-girlfriends that were cut entirely) and
seeing his interactions with those away from his criminal life would have
helped create a more complete portrait of the man.
Still and all, Black Mass proves to be an engrossing
examination of the corrupting influence of not only power but of personality as
Bulger’s aura was such that he was able to tempt weaker men with the promise of
the sort of life he had, all the while making it seem glamorous and
justifiable. What those such as Connolly
failed to realize was that in order to succeed as Bulger did, they had to be
void of conscience, a quality that thankfully few men truly possess.
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2015.
