Black Mass

Johnny Depp is slowly ceasing to be an actor that I necessarily seek out. For example, I was looking forward to this movie mostly because Benedict Cumberbatch is also in it. On the other hand, Depp took advantage of the opportunity to play something different and he did quite well. What didn't succeed are the masks, which seem horrific to me at first sight. And on the second sight too. It's like watching a moving museum of wax figures. (01/18/2016)

A two-hour conversational reconstruction of real events, where everything is perfectly fine, but at the same time nothing surprises, nor does it significantly break us out of the lethargy of the monotonous and emotionally alienating narrative. We don't identify with the characters, we merely follow their pre-plotted fates through the eyes of a disinterested judge, just as the deliberately austere direction does. I enjoyed Depp's amazing performance (that's how you act with your eyes), the well-written dialogues and Junkie XL's signature music, but the rest remains well in the shadow of classic works of the Hollywood mafia school. (07/01/2016)

The biggest mafia screw-up in a long time. A film absolutely devoid of drama and suspense, without the much needed period filler to create the right atmosphere. If it weren't for Johnny Depp with a ton of makeup and a couple of stars in supporting roles, I'd think Scott Cooper had moved into pure B-movie waters. Gone is the rawness and industrial cover of Out of the Furnace. Here they feel that a few period costumes and some decent murders will be enough, but no. The film is almost devoid of music and the little there is, well, Junkie XL doesn't know which way to go and his score fits more into mystery horror than a gangster flick. The characters are absolutely devoid of energy, with a monstrous amount of audience alienation. This material had massive potential, but it would have had to be handled by a more sophisticated filmmaker. It's a bit remotely reminiscent of American Hustle with the costume design, and that one also had a lot of wasted potential, but Black Mass wants so badly to be American Gangster, yet it's not even remotely that. (11/21/2015)

In a story with prominent religious overtones, Depp’s Boston bloodsucker personifies an irresistibly seductive evil and, thanks to his charisma, wins you over to his side more easily than the boring good. Like the ambitious but so far unsuccessful Connolly. However, it cannot be said that the FBI agent is the story’s protagonist through whose eyes we follow the plot and with whom we are supposed to identify. The camera keeps the same distance from him as it does from the other characters, whose inner world we also have no access to (in the form of flashbacks or internal monologues, for example) and we see them only from a distance, more as noteworthy objects to observe than as participants in the narrative. An exception, when we see the actors’ faces in close-up, is the scenes of violence. The terrified expressions of those who witness Bulger’s sadism illustrates their awareness that they could easily become his next victims. We also see the faces of the victims, who are exposed to psychological and physical violence together with their wives and are the only characters with whom we can sympathise. They are characteristically the most powerless characters, who cannot influence anything and cannot do anything to prepare themselves for the approaching evil except read The Exorcist (like Connolly’s wife). The film’s restrained visual style, based on very slow camera movements, static wide-angle shots and dim lighting, corresponds to the attempt at a reserved procedural reconstruction of why the alliance between the FBI and Bulger resulted in so many deaths and contributes to the creepingly slow pace of the narrative. In approaching the actual events in a factual, descriptive manner in the style of a documentary, Black Mass keeps an aloof distance from its characters, offers fragments that we have to piece together ourselves instead of a fully formed narrative, and frames the world of organised crime without attempting to present an engaging spectacle. Conversely, it doesn’t offer the expected pleasure of a genre flick and requires more cooperation from the viewer than you would expect from a Johnny Depp film, but it will more likely stay with you longer than movies that cater to viewers and don’t place major demands on them. 75% (11/18/2015)

The solid actor base and even the complete transformation of Johnny Deppʼs appearance didn’t make me completely blown away by Black Mass. Story-wise, it’s not bad, but at times I had the impression that had the movie been 90 minutes long, I wouldn’t be angry at all. High quality and uncompromising gangster movies have apparently become extinct. That’s what was constantly going through my head while watching the movie. The thing so good about the legendary Goodfellas, The Godfather, and Scarface, namely the unforgettable scenes, was missing here. In any case, Johnny Depp proved that with every new role he is able to go to the limits of his acting abilities and for that, he has my genuine admiration. (05/25/2016)