Whitey Bulger, the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, a Boston Irish mob becomes an FBI informant in order to take down the Italian American Patriarca, a rival gang. "Black Mass' depicts a true story of how Bulger, the brother of a Massachusetts State Senator got on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in the "70s. 'Black Mass' hit theaters on Friday, Sept. 18. The film was rated R by the MPAA. It runs for 2 hours and 2 minutes.
"Black Mass' stars Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger, Joel Edgerton as John Connolly, Benedict Cumberbatch as William "Billy" Bulger, Dakota Johnson as Lindsey Cyr, Kevin Bacon as Charles McGuire, Jesse Plemons as Kevin Weeks, Corey Stoll as Fred Wyshak, Peter Sarsgaard as Brian Halloran, David Harbour as John Morris, Rory Cochrane as Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, Julianne Nicholson as Marianne Connolly, James Russo as Scott Garriola, Adam Scott as Robert Fitzpatrick, Jeremy Strong as Josh Bond, Brad Carter as John McIntyre, W. Earl Brown as Johnny Martorano, Juno Temple as Deborah Hussey, Erica McDermott as Mary Bulger, Berglind Jónsdóttir as Anna Björnsdóttir, Bill Camp as John Callahan, Scott Anderson as Tommy King, Patrick M. Walsh as Michael Donahue, David De Black as Roger Wheeler, andJamie Donnelly as Ms. Cody.
The film was directed by Scott Cooper and edited by David Rosenbloom. The producers are Scott Cooper, John Lesher, Patrick McCormick, Brian Oliver, and Tyler Thompson. The screenplay is by Jez Butterworth and Mark Mallouk. The $53 million budget film features music by Junkie XL. Cinematography is by Masanobu Takayanagi. It was produced by Cross Creek Pictures and RatPac Entertainment. "Black Mass' was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Movie Rating and Info.
RogerEbert.Com: 3/4 Stars
Metacritic: 68 - Metascore, based on 39 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes: 76% - Tomatometer
Movie Reviews
"Depp's performance as Bulger is as strong, and as energized, as anything he's done on screen for years," wrote Dana Stevens from Slate.
"The acting here is much stronger and more soulful than I would have expected, and not only from Depp," wrote Wesley Morris from Grantland.
"Whenever Depp is on screen, nothing else matters," wrote Barry Hertz from Globe and Mail.
