Black Mass (2015)

** out of ****

Being a bit of a cinefile when it comes to mob movies, all I can say about “Black Mass” is, “Wow. What a disappointment....”

I've been hearing for several months what a great job Johnny Deep has done as mob boss Whitey Bulger and what a terrific crime drama this is. I wonder what those critics were smoking because I saw a long, dull bore-fest with a leading man who gives a horrid impression of a Boston thug with a little make up on. We're supposed to buy this willowy, narrow shouldered phoney as a strong-arm for the South Boston mob?  Fat chance.

That all sounds pretty strong, I know, and I have tended to enjoy Johnny Depp's performances in other films. But he is simply terribly miscast here. I have no idea why this movie is getting such acclaim.

Also prominent in the film is Joel Edgerton as FBI agent John Connelly. A childhood friend of Bulger's, he is able to convince him that he should inform on his competitors to the FBI, advancing Connelly's career and Bulger's business interests. But as with Depp, Edgerton decides to overact his part into a preening sleaze, coming off more as a used car salesman in the bad part of town than a respected career FBI agent.

The real-life story is told slowly, and some are praising the layer-by-layer unfolding of the tale. But I am here to tell you that it isn't a layered story and it just comes off as snail-like and dreary. The action, on the very rare occasion that it comes, isn't interesting enough to offset the glacial pace of the rest of the film.

I can appreciate slow moving story, if it is well told, but “Black Mass” simply is not. The best thing I can say about it is along with Depp and Edgerton, Kevin Bacon and Benedict Cumberbatch have supporting roles, so it will become a key player in “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” in the future.