For the most part enthralling!

Rating: 9/10 (22 September 2015)

'BLACK MASS': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Crime biopic based on the life of notorious Irish-American mobster Whitey Bulger; detailing his relations with corrupt FBI members, including an old childhood friend. The film is being called a comeback, for lead actor Johnny Depp (after five box office and critical failures in a row); and he's also now considered the frontrunner, in next year's Academy Awards Best Actor race. The film costars Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Dakota Johnson, David Harbour, Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott, Corey Stoll, Peter Sarsgaard, W. Earl Brown, Julianne Nicholson and Juno Temple. It was directed by Scott Cooper (who also helmed 'CRAZY HEART' and 'OUT OF THE FURNACE') and written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth; the screenplay is based on the 2001 novel, by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill. I found the film to be a little uneven, and slow-paced, but for the most part enthralling.
The story begins in 1975; when James 'Whitey' Bulger (Depp) was already a well known gangster, and infamous crime boss, in South Boston. He worked closely with his cohorts: Stephen Flemmi (Cochrane), Kevin Weeks (Plemons) and Johnny Martorano (Brown); to organize most of the crime there. Whitey's leadership was challenged though, by another Italian-American crime group (from the North End), called The Angiulo Brothers. So when his old childhood friend, turned FBI agent, John Connolly (Edgerton), returned to town; Whitey reluctantly agreed to an informant partnership, in order to takeout his enemies. The film follows all of the bloody and horrendous events that followed.
The film is very slow paced; but it's also informative, intense and involving. I knew little about the real Whitey Bulger, before seeing the movie, so the story always kept me (at least somewhat) entertained. I'm not a big fan of biopics but it's hard not to find such larger-than-life characters fascinating. Depp's performance is the highlight of the movie (and it's great to see him back in top form) but the supporting cast is all impressive as well (the makeup, on Depp, is superb too). I also really like Cooper, as a director, and have immensely enjoyed all of his (three) films, so far. The movie is definitely worth seeing.
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