By Peter Skrzypczak, Staff Reporter.
People have been getting tired of Johnny Depp lately, starring in at least two films per year since 1995. Films like “Transcendence,” and “The Tourist” have been bringing his acting skills into question. He’s always been a great actor, especially in character roles like Captain Jack Sparrow and Raoul Duke. He just isn’t the best at choosing projects, and this film is proof of that.
“Black Mass” stars Depp as Jimmy “Whitey” Bulger, a strong arm for the Boston underground and an eventual informant for the FBI. The film chose not to follow him throughout his life, but instead he’s already the hardened criminal with a crew.
Because of this crime-lord approach, some of Bulger’s real life lieutenants have come out against the film’s inaccuracies. This doesn’t really effect the entertainment aspect of the film; besides, I’m not here to judge the movies accuracy. Also, if the criminal your movie is based on likes seeing the crime-lord you depicted, I feel like that would be a loss.
The cinematography is great, and no shot is wasted. Some standout frames include the wide shots in the FBI building.
There isn’t a great deal of character depth or development though. There are instances where we see some of Bulger’s crew are looking sympathetic over what they had done, but never evolves into any development. There are two different points where Bulger loses people close to him, which only drives his character to be colder. Though for this movie to have a real degree of depth or development, it would run the risk of making these guys look like the antagonists. Even though they are some really bad dudes, they are the ‘good guys’.
Addressing Depp’s performance: It was hard to recognize him at first, with his ghostly blue eyes, receding hairline and dead tooth. Whether he’s going home to his wife and kid or “taking out” an old friend, he makes the character incredibly compelling and it’s one of the biggest driving forces of the movie. There was a lot of talent in this movie, and they all acted on point, but none quite like Depp. While the others performances were good, the longer they’d get screen time, the more I’d ask, “where did Whitey go?”
