Not as crisp as Scorsese could have managed but still entertaining

Rating: 6/10 (15 October 2015)

'Black Mass' is a fascinating story that falls into the trap of having too much to say and not enough time to say it. The original cut was apparently close to 3 hours but was cut down for pacing reasons. Some films can get away with this, others struggle to. This is the latter. The story feels rushed and clunky. There isn't that patience that the likes of Martin Scorsese bring to the table. There isn't that classic scene ("How am I funny?") that people will remember and reenact for years to come. There isn't even always an explanation as to why a character has disappeared from the story. Having made this point though - that really is the only problem with an otherwise very fine film.
The acting is terrific across the board. Johnny Depp is obviously the stand-out in the lead role. He's as captivating on screen as always and I suspect he will receive an Oscar nomination when January roles around. The only thing that will hold him back from winning it is a lack of punchy dialogue. Every scene he is in is brilliant but feels too similar to the last one. The rest of the cast are faultless and make every scene very enjoyable.
It's a brutal film with no holding back on the violence whatsoever. Director Scott Cooper, in only his third film at the helm, does an adequate job but I can't help but wonder what someone with the class of Scorsese could have done with this script. It's a solid movie there's no doubt about it, but it won't go down in the history books as a classic which is a shame because the story had the potential to do just that.