Good day all. Last week I saw the new Johnny Depp movie Black Mass. This is a “Docudrama” on the life of James “Whitey” Bulger, and how he became the crime boss of Boston and corrupted the Boston FBI office.
First, if you have any knowledge of Whitey and Billy Bulger, there can be no spoilers. This is a true story based on the book “Black Mass: Whitgey Bulger, The FBI, and a Devils Deal” written by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. Whitey Bulger was a career criminal and one who didn’t hesitate to kill anyone who stood in his way.
His brother, Billy Bulger, became the most powerful politician in Massachusetts, and was well known to use his office to “get” people. He became known as the “Corrupt Midget” for his actions as the President of the Massachusetts senate. While it was never proven that he was tied into his brother’s criminal activities, it is interesting to note that he “Retired” from the senate shortly after his brother Whitey when on the lam.
In the movie, Whitey is played, and from those who know Whitey, almost perfectly by Johnny Depp. This is definitely NOT Depp playing “Captain Jack Bulger.” His performance should rate an academy award nomination and frankly, he should win it, it was that good. He “caught” Whitey’s personae perfectly, right down to the green tooth Whitey has and never had fixed.
One character who was miscast somewhat was Benedict Cumberbatch. He played Billy Bulger, and while he got it near perfect, there was one not so small problem. Billy Bulger is called “the Corrupt midget” for a reason. He is a short little twerp, about 5’6 or thereabouts and Cumberbatch is almost 6’1” tall. The movie just glossed over the height issue.
Another major character is FBI agent John Connolly played by Joel Edgerton. Connolly grew up with the Bulgers and became friends with both of them. When Connolly was assigned to the task force to get the Angiulo crime family in Boston. According to the movie and actual events, this is when Connolly got in bed with Whitey Bulger.
Connolly protected Bulger and his partners and Bulger used Connolly to get information that would benefit the Bugler Winter Hill Gang. Bulger would supply small amounts of information to Connolly, who set Bulger and a few others as protected informants.
Joel Edgerton played Connolly as a sleazy, oily individual. I don’t have any information on what Connolly was like in real life, but this quote on Connolly’s Wikipedia page by Boston FBI Special Agent Robert Fitzpatrick pretty much describes him.
Connolly just became a force unto himself, a vortex in a constantly changing system. He stayed put as new agents in charge came and went. And he could take care of other agents. He became the guy who could get you sports tickets. He could help you get a day off through the secretaries. He made no secret that he could help you get a job after retirement through Billy Bulger. But he wasn’t that much of an agent. He couldn’t write a report. He was no administrator. He was just this brassy bullshit artist. We enabled him to some extent. No one had the stomach for examining what he was up to. We just never came to grip with that guy.
Thanks to Connolly, the Boston FBI office was pretty much trashed with it’s reputation utterly destroyed. As I recall, they had to replace almost everyone there.
This movie shows just what happened in Boston between 1975 and 1995 when Bulger was named as an FBI informant and the Winter Hill Gang was dismantled. Depp’s performance was spectacular. The other actors, from what I’ve been hearing, hit the nails on the head by and large. In the case of Joel Edgerton, he specifically did NOT meet with Connolly in prison, (Where he will eventually die of old age. He’s never getting out), so as to avoid getting “contaminated” as it were by Connolly’s version of the events. Depp wanted to meet with Bulger, but Whitey refused to see him, and from what I hear, is furious about this film. I don’t think Depp has a lot to worry about from Bulger. He’s 86 years old and serving two life sentences. Hopefully, he will die a slow horribly painful and debilitating death in the next few years.
How would I rate this film? It’s easily a five out of five stars. Normally I don’t go in for this type of movie, but since I grew up in New England and know about all the people involved, I went to see this one. I wasn’t alone. The theater, even after a week, and on a Tuesday night, was sold out. I’ve heard that a lot of the people watching this film are in the New England area or in Santa Monica where he was captured after 16 years on the run. I fully expect that Black Mass will receive a boatload of Academy award nominations. The attention to detail is excellent as anyone familiar with the area can attest. Go and see this movie and you won’t be disappointed.
Thatisall
~The Angry Webmaster~
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