Black Mass (2015)

Black Mass: Directed by Scott Cooper. With Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson. The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.

“I try not to get my hopes up too much for certain movies, and u0026quot;Black Massu0026quot; (which I got very excited about) just reminds me why.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOh, Scott Cooper… how did you manage to make one of the most twisted, unusual, and mysterious gangster stories into an emotionless web of a film? From acting to editing, there was so much wrong that itu0026#39;s almost surprising.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy main issue was the nonexistence of a certain necessity: stakes. In all great mafia flicks, stakes are essential. Would u0026quot;Goodfellasu0026quot; have been as remarkable if it didnu0026#39;t feel like any wrong move would set off a universe-ending set of events? Would the u0026quot;Godfatheru0026quot; have been considered the greatest film of all time if a war wasnu0026#39;t seconds away from breaking out? u0026quot;Black Massu0026quot; managed to keep a story that easily couldu0026#39;ve had those steaks from having any at all. This was, of course, caused by the emotionless acting, but more on that in a second. But this film really made me not care if the protagonist (whether you consider that to be Bulger or Connolly) lives or dies; and in a mob movie, that is a worse crime than anything committed on screen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo the acting I blame entirely on Cooper. Every single actor did a great job with what they were given, but the problem is that they were given the wrong thing. For example, Depp was probably told to play a silent yet psychotic, friendly yet intimidating crime lord. Did he do that well? Absolutely. Is that who the character was written as? Not at all. Same goes for Joel Edgertonu0026#39;s – who I thought did the best job out of all of the actors – character, Jesse Plemonsu0026#39; character, and even smaller characters like Adam Scottu0026#39;s. All those actors did well, but not in the right parts.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe list goes on with issues, so letu0026#39;s talk about why the movie got 2 stars rather than zero (therefore, letu0026#39;s talk about the positives). Iu0026#39;ve heard some critics discuss the overuse of violence in the film. Though there is quite a bit of violence, I thought it was used very tastefully. No blood was used where it didnu0026#39;t seem necessary, and personally, I think that the violence becomes numbing, which takes us even further into the mob guysu0026#39; mentality on murder. Also, I thought the shooting locations were very well chosen, as they really captured the narrow-mindedness of the lead charactersu0026#39; lives.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo should you see this movie? -If you love mafia movies of any shape or size, then go see it. -If you love Johnny Depp, wait until it comes out on demand. -If you donu0026#39;t love mafia movies, havenu0026#39;t seen many mafia movies, or just have none of the listed qualities above, then donu0026#39;t see this film.”