The same goes for flicks like Goodfellas, The Godfather trilogy, Scarface, Casino, American Gangster and many others.
The latest one takes us to South Boston during the 70's and 80's where we see the story of notorious criminal Jimmy 'Whitey' Bulger.
Being billed as the film that could see Johnny Depp get back as an awards contender, this was certainly seen as a candidate for some Oscars.
Now that I've seen, I'm afraid this will go under the category of 'Oscar bait'. The whole experience fell quite flat throughout. It definitely is well told, the performances were great and the visuals were pleasing. But I'm afraid it was just not entertaining enough to be memorable.
However, the acting is top rate and Depp certainly leads the way with a strong performance as Bulger. He has genuine threat and the added make-up gives him that right amount of fright.
A lot of the other main cast was quite star-studded. Joel Edgerton as the FBI officer helping Depp's character plays it really well. It was nice to see Benedict Cumberbatch back on the big screen in a small role. Other notable performances came from Kevin Bacon who does what he does best and promising youngster Jesse Plemons who I have recently seen in The Program. That kid definitely has a promising future.
The production design is impressive as you are definitely transported to the 70's and 80's. The style of hair for the characters is not as glamoured as American Hustle, but it is noticeable enough to be seen as quite amusing.
As for the story, it told the history well, but the makers just did not make it entertaining enough to be seen as memorable as the other mob films.
It does have its comparisons with The Departed, and being set in Boston does help.
One big thing this film was missing was a main protagonist. There were plenty of antagonists. But you really need a positive character to make us learn something, feel emotion and get involved with the characters in the feature.
Going back to The Departed, they managed to do that beautifully. It also managed to have a focus on its characters, despite the many layers to it. Black Mass just tried to cover too many moments in the history of this character rather than focusing on a particular part of his story. All of this is where Black Mass will lose interest in its audience.
In the end, I would see this as a near miss. Despite the high amount of criticism, I think the performances and the look to it does deserve to be seen on the big screen as it is there where you will get the best enjoyment out of it.
This would probably do better as a television series. In fact, the look of the film does have a TV feel to it. With the content the director wanted to put in, a TV series would have given him it depth, time and understanding to get involved with the story and the characters. If this was going to be done by Martin Scorsese, this would have been an entertaining watch.
Rating: 7/10
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