Johnny Depp delivers incredible performance as real-life Boston crimelord in 'Black Mass'

Three-time Oscar nominee Johnny Depp brings his A-game in the Scott Cooper helmed gangster-thriller 'Black Mass'; based on the book by Dick Lehr & Gerard O'Neil. While Black Mass delivers "shock" value when it comes to the surprise and violent execution-like-killings (hence the R16 rating) that are so sudden and frequent that you end up expecting somebody will die throughout the film.

The plot may have suffered in part because it is based on actual events that span a number of years so it lacks the basic rising action - climax  formula to keep you at the edge of your seat.

What Black Mass does accomplish is a cast of colorful & complicated characters (probably because they are actual people) its exhilarating to explore their psyche. To top it off these flesh and bone characters complete with the bells and whistles of a complex mind are portrayed by a talented cast of actors.

I've always said that Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk in Marvel & Netflix's Daredevil was a villain that terrified me - well now I can say that I can add Johnny Depp's Whitey Bulger to that list. I would not want to get on their bad side.

The film effectively portrays Bulger as a complicated character, he is loving to his mother, to his son and even to an elderly neighbor & yet he is incredibly cruel & violent to those he considers a threat.

Early reviews of the movie were already praising Depp for his portrayal of Whitey Bulger -some critics even calling it 'his best' and after seeing the movie I would have to say that it is more than just Depp's acting which makes the fear go down your spine - it is the transformation into the character as well.

Bulger & Depp could not be any more physically different with Bulger's bright blue piercing eyes & balding 'white'-blond hair to Depp's dark eyes & a head full of dark locks. Depp stepped into character by not only wearing contacts & going through make-up for the balding look but even sporting a gap in his teeth to match Bulger's. 

Johnny Depp as Boston Mobster Jimmy 'Whitey' Bulger.

Depp is no stranger to transforming into characters he portrays from Edward Scissorhands, to Willy Wonka to the Mad Hatter but it is in playing a Boston crime lord where Depp (as a colleague of mine said) "completely disappears" as himself.

Another interesting angle in the film is that it seemed to lack the traditional protagonist & antagonist roles. A line in the movie which caught my attention & in my opinion describes my early sentiment goes something like this: "We went from playing cops & robbers to becoming them; the thing is, in the playground you can't tell which is which and that happened in real life too."

There seems to be a very thin line between being on the right side of the law and fighting against it and that was crossed a lot of times in the movie.

Which brings us to another interesting character in the film - Joel Edgerton's FBI agent John Connoly, who in his blind ambition played a hand into creating the King Pin that Whitey Bulger became its ironic how he started with good intentions and in a sense dug his own grave in the end. Another interesting character to analyze.

Joel Edgerton as FBI Agent John Connoly with Depp's Bulger.

I was hoping that there was more scenes between Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch who played Whitey - Jimmy Bulger's Senator Brother Bill Bulger. I know! Can you imagine a Senator having a mobster for a brother?!?! 

The Bulger Brothers: Benedict Cumberbatch as Senator Billy Bulger with Depp's Jimmy Bulger.

I did mention before that Paul and I watch a lot of Mobster movies which is why we already have an idea how they do their businesses, (vending machines, lottery, loans, drugs,) we're even used to the Boston accent already but newcomers might find it confusing. Honestly the money making rackets were not really explained in the film fully, it was like Johnny Depp and his crew went around and just killed people. You might want to educate yourself in the 'ways of the mob' before seeing the film first.

I enjoyed Black Mass as it was in-depth look into characters so interesting and complex I don't think I'll ever get over the unholy alliance between a Crime Lord and a Federal Agent that spiraled out of proportion, and turned good men evil. Despite its lack of an evident rising plot with a climax, the spine tingling performance of its actors will have you equally engrossed.