Always-honest
Banned
Just watched the trailer and i gotta say, Depp looks amazing. Scary motherfucker.
First Reviews for Black Mass (Johnny Depp is Whitey Bulger, dir. Scott Cooper)
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Thebeardofknowledge
Banned
Depp looks great in this will probably get a best actor nomination
User 479360
Banned
Sounds good, but it hasn't compelled me to rush to the theatre in order to see it. It's a movie I can surely wait for.
Just saw the film. Not bad, but nothing exceptional. Feels less of a mob film than a biopic for Bulger and Connolly. The director didn't take many liberties, and the film kind of lags towards the end.
As for glorifying him, there are a couple scenes that seem strange.
Southie looks glorious though. Love it.
As for glorifying him, there are a couple scenes that seem strange.
Southie looks glorious though. Love it.
NealMcCauley
Member
Pretty good overall. I guess maybe an 8/10. Bulger to me came across as a side character to Connolly, like a cipher of sorts. Honestly thought it was too breezy if that makes sense, like they could have made a genuine epic but instead focused on the cliff notes.
Kinda funny was that most people in my theater had no clue Bulger was actually captured. The woman sitting behind me was whispering to her friend "Yep and he was never captured..." only to be cut off mid sentence.
Kinda funny was that most people in my theater had no clue Bulger was actually captured. The woman sitting behind me was whispering to her friend "Yep and he was never captured..." only to be cut off mid sentence.
Not here. At almost every reference to something notable, you could hear people talking.
It's also notable that this really was Joel Egerton's film above every one else.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Kind of sleepy for me. Lacks the flair of Goodfellas, not that it needed to be Goodfellas. I just caught myself yawning on the larger emphasis of the FBI side.
Depp was amazing though. That one scene where he's letting it be known, to the agensts wife. Fuck. Just... fuck.
Depp was amazing though. That one scene where he's letting it be known, to the agensts wife. Fuck. Just... fuck.
Goodfellas and The Departed are pure fiction. You can take far more comedic liberties than you can in this type of film, right or wrong.
Goodfellas is based on a true story....
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
That's a good point.
I guess I went into thinking there would be more emphasis on seeing Bulgers exploits but the agent was just as an important aspect to the whole story.
I'm from Worcester and remember some of the "Bulger sightings" the local news would throw out from time to time, so it was a cool film to take in nonetheless.
NealMcCauley
Member
Guess that's the south for ya.
Oh, and yeah, very nice looking film. I had read Cooper is good at getting character from locations and it is true.
I misspoke a bit, on mobile. The overall product is very different from reality. It's hard doing a biopic type film and add comedic elements. Goodfellas kind of was able to take loose liberties everywhere around the main concept, as the main character wasn't a brutal human being.
OK, I get what you were saying now. Yeah, you have to be a lot more responsible to the moviegoer when you're writing the story for a biopic.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
He was great in Tusk.
The protagonist easily could have been lying for Goodfellas, and it's probable he was to a degree. His story though basically is like a skyline Disney ride to the events.
I've followed the Bulger story for a long time. While you could have had a more creative director, it's insanely difficult to pump anything relatable into him, real or false. In this movie they give you one token of humanity, and he ruins it immediately afterward.
lazybones18
Banned
Missed like the first 5 minutes of it but I thought it was very good. Wow, the FBI really screwed the pooch. And I also thought he didn't get caught
I dont know about this one
Depp was admittedly great, and I was always interested in what was happening, but it was so blah. It was a lot like American Hustle in the sense that I wanted the movie to be about something else. In Hustle, I wish the movie was more focused on Renner and Bales friendship. Here, I thought the most interesting thing was the Bulger brothers relationship, although the film criminally underuses Cumberbatch. Besides Depp, I really just found it blah with the exception of Cumberbatch, Scott, and Stoll, and the latter two dont really deserve mention. But it was a damn great performance by Depp.
I honestly though Edgerton was the weakest part of it. Felt like he was distracted in the filmmaking process and every time the film went to solely him, I wanted to watch a different scene (unless Stoll or Scott were in said scene).
I honestly though Edgerton was the weakest part of it. Felt like he was distracted in the filmmaking process and every time the film went to solely him, I wanted to watch a different scene (unless Stoll or Scott were in said scene).
DoktorEvil
Banned
So its too real to life is what you're saying?
In a way. There are few fabricated scenes that kind of feel strange. Not a ton of them, but in films like this they also feel weird. It's a Hollywood film. Towards the end, it largely sticks to the meat and potatoes of the story, which Whitey is largely a minor character.
If they expanded on some of the other characters (Flemmi, Weeks, Martorano) there is plenty of extra content. On the other side, it could have ruined the narrative. They use an event from Flemmi's life that feels largely out of place here. It just kind of feels like they are adding whatever content they can.
It was a pretty boring film. Maybe they should have took some more liberties from what it sounds like, but it goes off in several directions mid way through and never recovers. Felt like going through the motions and anyone outside of Depp didn't get much to work with.
Doctor Decimate
Member
Recorded a review for it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qNDuloqNl4
I didn't like it much at all. It felt really unfocused and by-the-numbers. Depp was great, but it felt like he didn't get many moments to really shine; most of his good scenes are in the trailers and I actually think the trailers show you most of what you need to see from his performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qNDuloqNl4
I didn't like it much at all. It felt really unfocused and by-the-numbers. Depp was great, but it felt like he didn't get many moments to really shine; most of his good scenes are in the trailers and I actually think the trailers show you most of what you need to see from his performance.
Doctor Decimate
Member
I'd call it a rental personally. Even the people who like the movie more than I do seem to acknowledge that you're only really seeing it for Johnny Depp.
Officerrob
Banned
Saw it last night, and was pretty disappointed. It just seems to fall apart towards the middle and trudges on, very slowly and boringly. At just over two hours it's definitely not a long film, but it just moved so slowly. Depp while good, I feel his performance is being a little overrated. That probably has much to do with the script being so by the numbers, but it is what it is.
Just watched your review, and it pretty much nails exactly how I feel about the film
Just watched your review, and it pretty much nails exactly how I feel about the film
GreatestHits
Member
Depp is one of my favorite actors, really good to see that he's in a good role/movie/performance. Haven't watched a movie in years, might watch this
TheStruggler
Report me for trolling ND/TLoU2 threads
After seeing the first trailer how chilling he was and that laugh he would have made a very good Joker
MrCunningham
Member
Saw this tonight, and to be honest I wasn't really feeling it. The tone of the movie is too flat line for my liking, Johnny Depp isn't in the movie as much as I was hoping, It felt like Joel Edgerton got more screen time in the movie. It was well directed, and JunkieXL's score was pretty good. The movie wasn't terrible, but perhaps it was not really for me.
ph1l0z0ph3r
Member
Saw the movie tonight (Western Mass) and enjoyed it. Insane that the theater was completely packed since it seemed like most of the people in there already knew everything about Bulger that needed to be said. Shame they skipped out on so much though wanted to see if they would of put in the Blackfriars Massacre.
I understand that impulse, Lowell is a magical place. You can walk into an apartment, brush shoulders with a sketchy fellow on his way out before settling down to hit up some odd inhaler bong only to find out it was that guy's crack pipe. Then he strolls back in and gets mad at you.
But nevermind that. Black Mass is a bit like Donnie Brasco (that Johnny Depp is in both is a fact that doesn't necessarily mean anything) in that it's watchable and you don't walk out/eventually hit some buttons in order to turn it off feeling fleeced, yet it never actually feels fully realized. But if you have cable it won't be the worst thing in the world to click over to, you know?
Watched it today. I really liked it. It was a bit paint by numbers, but it was really well acted and a good story. Even if I did know a bunch of it before hand.
As a big plus, some of the side characters really rocked the Southie accent without being comical. A few missed the mark, but nothing laughable.
As a big plus, some of the side characters really rocked the Southie accent without being comical. A few missed the mark, but nothing laughable.
GeneralHerpes
Member
Some guy kept falling asleep at the theater I was in and would snore-wake himself up throughout. I was with him in spirit--seemed pretty slow and pretty predictable.
brianmcdoogle
Member
Saw it this weekend. Found it incredibly dull and self-serious. Depp was good, everyone else was fine and consistent; no real bad performances.
I also found the pacing and repetitiveness to be incredibly off. For example, there's the infamous Goodfellas inspired scene that was featured in a trailer, which doesn't really have that much tension, but ok, you get what they are going for so whatever. Then, they follow this scene immediately with another "tense" scene involving someone's wife. It's basically the exact same setup, but it is back to back, so the second occurrence is ineffective.
Thinking briefly off the top of my head, it is probably Depp's best performance since PotC. I think I'm still befuddled by Cooper as a director. Crazy Heart had a couple of good performances, but the movie wasn't that great. I did not like Out of the Furnace that much either. He needs to shift gears in his movies outside of grumpy brooding, because he can do that well, but when that's all the movie is, it becomes boring, which was this film. He kind of reminds me of Cianfrance, who wrote wrote/directed Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, both messier and more uneven films, but much more interesting and watchable.
I will say that I've found Juno Temple annoying and too theatrical in every movie I've seen her in, from Killer Joe to Maleficent to Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. She basically has one scene in this, and she does a pretty decent job with her limited screen time. That was nice.
I also found the pacing and repetitiveness to be incredibly off. For example, there's the infamous Goodfellas inspired scene that was featured in a trailer, which doesn't really have that much tension, but ok, you get what they are going for so whatever. Then, they follow this scene immediately with another "tense" scene involving someone's wife. It's basically the exact same setup, but it is back to back, so the second occurrence is ineffective.
Thinking briefly off the top of my head, it is probably Depp's best performance since PotC. I think I'm still befuddled by Cooper as a director. Crazy Heart had a couple of good performances, but the movie wasn't that great. I did not like Out of the Furnace that much either. He needs to shift gears in his movies outside of grumpy brooding, because he can do that well, but when that's all the movie is, it becomes boring, which was this film. He kind of reminds me of Cianfrance, who wrote wrote/directed Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, both messier and more uneven films, but much more interesting and watchable.
I will say that I've found Juno Temple annoying and too theatrical in every movie I've seen her in, from Killer Joe to Maleficent to Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. She basically has one scene in this, and she does a pretty decent job with her limited screen time. That was nice.
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