Black Mass 2015

     This film is based on the true story of James “Whitey” Bulger.  He was an Irish mob godfather and an FBI informant with a secret information trading deal. He worked with his brother William “Billy” Bulger, a state senator from Boston and John Connolly an FBI agent.  They were planning to take down the Italian mob and the mafia in Boston.  Everything started to go south and turned very violent.  There was a lot of drug dealing, murder and extortion.  The FBI’s Boston office was forced to report that Whitey Bulger was one of the most notorious criminals in the history of the US.  He was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List of criminals.

     The style of this film is to tell details in a flashback structure with FBI interrogations of Bulger associates.  John Connolly worked with Bulger because they were childhood friends.  Characters seem to come and go, you wonder if they are still alive until they show up again?  Some of the events seem to be unbelievable but they are based on evidence.  Even those involved thought things were so outrageous that they couldn’t really be happening?  There is a lot of violence but I didn't think this was very interesting and Bulger must be the devil?  2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)

123 min, Bio directed by Scott Cooper with Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Joel Edgerton, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, David Harbour, Adam Scott.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 75% critic 69% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 3.8* out of 5* with 1667 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in South Boston, Boston, Lynn, Chelsea, Quincy, Revere Beach, Methuen, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Other actresses considered for the role of Lindsey Cyr were Margot Robbie, Jennifer Lawrence, Anna Kendrick, Felicity Jones, Blake Lively, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway.  Robbie and Lawrence had scheduling conflicts.