Black Mass

(MA15+) ★★★

Director: Scott Cooper.

Cast: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, David Harbour, Julianne Nicholson, Adam Scott, Corey Stoll.

So many '80s music videos all look the same.

THIS is the Johnny Depp performance a lot of people have been waiting for – no crazy outfits, no silly hats, no OTT accents, and no scenery chewing.

Instead we get a surprisingly understated turn as real-life criminal James “Whitey” Bulger, the man who ran Boston’s underworld for over a decade with the tacit approval of the FBI.

Yes, there’s a Boston drawl and a balding head, but this a toned-down Depp, a long way from the diminishing returns of Jack Sparrow, Mortdecai and whatever Tim Burton’s up to.

But given Depp’s performance and the high-calibre cast around him, it’s disappointing Black Mass isn’t better.

The material is certainly there. Bulger, who was eventually found guilty for his involvement in 11 murders, is an interesting character, as is FBI agent John Connolly (Edgerton), who looked the other way while Bulger ran rampant in exchange for tidbits of information to bring down other criminals.

Black Mass would like to be the next Goodfellas, or The Departed, but it’s not. It’s too unfocused and lacks zing – for a movie with so many killings and nefarious activities, it is oddly sedate and unthrilling.

While not quite in the ballpark of Gangster Squad – the movie that has set a new benchmark for wasting the talents of an awesome cast – Black Mass does fritter away its talent. Depp is great, Edgerton is great, and all the supporting players are solid, particularly Johnson and Sarsgaard, but ultimately everyone is too good for the weak script.

An awkward and misused framing device involving police interviews with Bulger’s henchmen adds little to the story except laziness, with the technique eventually becoming distracting and then utterly redundant. It also leaves the script with no focal point, as it jumps half-heartedly between its main characters and never fully committing to telling anyone’s tale.

The tone is a little off too. The above trailer is a doozy, dripping with menace and a little black humour. The movie is unable to maintain that except in short bursts.

There is a great story to be told here, and as the net closes in on Bulger and Connolly in the third act, the film finally gets a bit of spark. Black Mass is not boring – its subject matter won’t let it be – but its story is not arranged or told in the most entertaining manner possible.

It’s worth seeing for Depp, who has a couple of terrifying moments that are amplified by his pinprick pupils, and for Edgerton, but tales of Boston cops and robbers have been told better in the likes of The Departed and The Town.

Ultimately, this is a missed opportunity, and thus, a disappointment.