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.

BLACK MASS: Ensemble cast bring Boston Gangster & FBI deal to the Big Screen

Paul and I watch a lot of CI (Crime & Investigation) on cable, it's one of our go-to channels. One of our must watch shows are the ones about Mobsters and Gangsters. Watching these real life godfathers deal with their 'business' on the streets of New York or Boston, in prison or in fact any city for that matter can be really shocking. The rampant crimes, the gruesome murders, all of it seem to be part of a Hollywood movie. 

In keeping with tradition-I'm really looking forward to the Scott Cooper helmed "Black Mass" based on the book by Dick Lehr & Gerard O'Neil (of which I have been trying to get a copy of but have had no luck so far, if you know of or have any idea where I can get a copy, please let me know). 

The book,  Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob, is about the infamous gangster Whitey Bulger. The film stars Oscar® nominee Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger and Joel Edgerton (“The Great Gatsby”) as FBI Agent John Connolly. 

For more than a decade—until his capture in 2011—Boston’s most infamous crime lord, James “Whitey” Bulger, was hunted by the FBI, surpassed only by Osama Bin Laden at the top of the Bureau’s Most Wanted List.

Edgerton and Depp as FBI Agent John Connolly and mobster Whitey Bulger.

Conolly and Bulger were childhood friends.

In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly (Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster James “Whitey” Bulger (Depp) to collaborate with the FBI and eliminate a common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the true story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Whitey to evade law enforcement, consolidate power, and become one of the most ruthless and powerful gangsters in Boston history.

“Black Mass” also stars Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Imitation Game”) as Whitey’s brother, Billy Bulger, who is a Massachusetts State Senator; Jesse Plemons (AMC’s “Breaking Bad”) as Whitey’s longtime partner in crime, Kevin Weeks; Sienna Miller (“American Sniper”) as Whitey’s lover, Catherine Greig; Dakota Johnson (“Fifty Shades of Grey”) as Lindsey Cyr, Whitey’s former girlfriend and mother of his only child; Rory Cochrane (“Argo”) as Steve Flemmi, another member of the Irish mob; Julianne Nicholson (“August: Osage County”) as John Connolly’s wife, Marianne; and Adam Scott (ABC’s “Parks and Recreation”) as FBI Agent Robert Fitzpatrick.

Cumberbatch and Depp as brothers on different paths on Black Mass.

Another thing I'm looking forward to in Black Mass is to see two of my favorite actors, Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Depp play as very different brothers. Depp a mobster and Cumberbatch a Senator. What more drama can you ask for right?

Early reviews are praising Depp for his performance as Bulger, some even calling it "his best". 

Opening across the Philippines on October 21, “Black Mass” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger.