black mass
Cast : Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Brad Carter
Rated : 5.5/10
That Johnny Depp is a great actor has been established long back. But his fans would like to be told again. He is absolutely chilling and captivating to watch. With a receding hairline and a bad tooth, the actor ensures that the otherwise extremely sow-paced crime drama based on a true story, keeps you engaged for all of 125 minutes.
Though Depp’s last couple of movies had not been inspiring enough, he has given a great performance in Black Mass.
As James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, Depp is menacing and becomes more and more sinister with each murder. Strangling one of his men for ratting about him and choking a young prostitute — her last gasp — haunt you for a major part of the movie; all this and much more is done with an ease, a shrug of his shoulders and no remorse whatsoever.
But the real hero of this film is the story itself — the rise and fall of one of the greatest crime bosses in Boston area. Told simply, the story starts with the narration of his henchmen and quickly flashbacks to 1975.
But to truly understand the nuances of the film, one would have to understand the crime world and the politics that governed it in the US; not something that many in India would have knowledge about.
Though it has actors like Benedict Cumberbatch and Kevin Bacon brilliant in their own way, it is Depp who is truly the star here.