Intense movie.

Rating: 8/10 (25 September 2015)

Why is this not a great movie? The movie plays up the wrong character. It should have played up Connolly instead of Bulger. That Connolly became corrupted is actually what this movie is about. Connolly is a detestable character. At any given moment, there are people in society committing crimes, some relatively minor and others far more serious. That's a given. Their actions have been depicted in so many movies and television shows that it is no longer novel. But an FBI agent becoming corrupted? That's a completely different, and far more dramatic, story. When that happens, the entire country is placed at risk. The FBI is supposed to be the bastion of law, the country's protector against those who pose a threat to public safety, and when that deterrent gets compromised, as happens in this movie – well, the social and political implications should be the story. The movie touches on the subject but does not develop it further, instead choosing to showcase Bulger's violence, which is depicted repeatedly and graphically throughout the movie. That the FBI provides cover for an entire criminal syndicate is alluded to but remains undeveloped. Nevertheless, this movie is good. The story is intense. The acting is powerful, and the movie grabs the audience's attention. Johnny Depp does an excellent job portraying a psychopathic killer. The performances of the rest of the cast is equally excellent, especially that of Joel Edgerton as the corrupted FBI agent.