'Black Mass': Very Badfellas
 Popcorn Column
by Michael S. Goldberger
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Warner Bros.
Johnny Depp portrays Boston mobster Whitey Bulger in the sadistic by-the-numbers bad guy move 'Black Mass.' |
his is icky stuff. While gangster film fans interested in violence first and plot second might enjoy Johnny Depp's outrageously sadistic portrayal of South Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger in director Scott Cooper's "Black Mass," discriminating devotees of the genre will be turned off by the rampant distastefulness. Although a true story, the script doubtlessly derives from the stencil a la Mafioso iconicized by Coppola and Scorsese. Only the names have been changed to glorify the guilty.
It's a curious thing, this approach-avoidance infatuation we have with villains. Here, in an initially intriguing twist, the crooks attempt to leverage the Feds to their advantage. Seeking to keep the Mafia from horning in on his duchy, Whitey, who better not hear me call him Whitey, is convinced by childhood friend-become-FBI agent, John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), to turn informant, only he doesn't think it's informing. Nope, the thug euphemistically calls it a business deal, an alliance. He's no rat.
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In time, as the plot thickens, we see it for the unholy alliance it is. We were tipped off in the prologue when hitman Kevin Weeks (Jesse Plemons) says, "Southie kids went from playing cops and robbers in the playground to doing it for real in the streets. And like on the playground, sometimes it was hard to tell who was who." It's the old two sides of the same coin theory. While the white-collared gumshoes rationalize crossing a line or two on the way to getting their man, Bulger and Co. doesn't stand on ceremony.
In fact, they rather flourish in the brutal, underhanded nature of their chosen profession ... especially Whitey ... oops. Yep, judging from the visceral charge he gets when choking to death a perceived threat, it seems as if he's happy said victim tried to cross him. It's not as if he'd rather be watching a ballgame. This is what he does; this is who he is: a sociopath, a born killer if ever there were one. All of which demands a discussion of Depp's portrayal.
Imperfect, over-the-top and indulgent to a fault, there is nonetheless the thought that this is what Bulger was like, and that no one else but Depp could disseminate his utter evil with such outlandish conviction. However, on the way to that impression, it also occurs that he has added his very own horror component to the doings. He's the hoodlum version of Mr. Hyde, but with no Dr. Jekyll … because he's probably eviscerated him.
Oh, he likes his Mom alright, and his younger brother Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch), the state senator, and of course his cute son, Doug (Luke Ryan). But for the most part, any attempt to imbue him with some sort of humanistic inclination is the equivalent of saying that Hitler was nice to his German shepherds. Vanishing deep into his makeup, Depp is near unrecognizable, a grotesque channeling of the DNA from past weirdo characters combined with a Brandoesque method to his madman. All that's missing is him smashing a grapefruit into his girlfriend's face.
In a testament to our lesser proclivities, "Black Mass" is for a time absorbing as a guilty pleasure, in the same way that our eyes can hardly avert what mangled misfortune we might espy when rubbernecking past a highway accident. However, though continually ramping up the shock factor to maintain our interest, in time it grows repetitiously thin. Likewise, the stereotypical thugs eventually wear on us. Equally tiring and disheartening is the regularly iterated reminder of the symbiotic liaison between the supposed good and bad.
The plot is as basic as it gets. So don't look for any great surprises to legitimize what is essentially a Marat/Sade-like conveyor belt of murder and mayhem. It's survival of the greediest, human style, brought to a freakish pitch and gratuitously delivered with little attempt to explain the sadistic nature that differentiates our take on Darwinism from the rest of the animal kingdom. But whether it's through insanity or bedevilment, such diabolical doings indeed give us pause.
Fact is, these things exist. And certainly, documentaries attempting to explain the occurrence of such horrible miscreants in our civilization are important. But the question remains: Are depictions of such monstrousness a form of amusement? Is watching a gangster wreaking systematic havoc on humankind any more acceptable than gawkers being secretly ushered in at night to see Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man)?
Still, in service to folks who love this sort of thing, rest assured the requisite tumbrels of maimed and butchered flesh are delivered, unencumbered by the wit and savvy that epitomizes the iconic examples of the genre. As for the rest of us, "Black Mass" should certainly be exorcised from our moviegoing list.
"Black Mass," rated R, is a Warner Bros. release directed by Scott Cooper and stars Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton and Benedict Cumberbatch. Running time: 122 minutes
