Lack of plot, emotion holds Black Mass back.

Rating: 3/10 (4 October 2015)

This movie had fantastic trailers. I was beyond excited to see it, and went out opening weekend with high hopes. Unfortunately, it completely failed to live up to my expectations, leading to a very poor night.
As most reviewers will tell you, the acting is done well in this movie. Depp especially does a fantastic job. However, his character (Whitey Bulger) was never fleshed out, the only backstory given through the FBI agent (Connolly) who he informs to, who was a childhood friend of his. In fact, the plot was executed so poorly that you never truly care for Whitey and have no idea what his story actually is, or his motivation. This is exemplified perfectly in one early scene.
Whitey is introduced in a scene which takes place in a bar, in which he sits silently at a table with a group of mob members. These members are having a conversation meant to set up a bit of plot regarding the current mob politics. The characters who speak, however, can barely be heard over the bar noise. They aren't even shown on camera, because visually the scene focuses only on Depp watching another character eat out of a peanut bowl after licking his fingers. After the conversation ends, Depp calls out the character for doing this, and threatens him. Right from the beginning, the plot took a backseat and the movie served only to show that Whitey is a really bad guy.
This movie completely failed to deliver on plot, with no connections from one scene to the next and no excitement. There was not even a climax. Towards the end, Depp suddenly gives guns to the IRA and gets caught in the next scene. That's it. The movie ends minutes later. The lack of emotion and plot, with the only focus being on Whitey Bulger's bad side, holds this movie back from offering anything compelling. It was just bad.