Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, David Harbour, Adam Scott, Corey Stoll, Julianne Nicholson, Juno Temple, W. Earl Brown, Bill Camp, Mark Mahoney, Brad Carter, Scott Anderson, Lonnie Farmer, Erica McDermott, Owen Burke, Lewis D. Wheeler.

There are films which have the audience hanging on the edge of their seats and usually they are for their sheer scope and vision they offer the cinematic screen. They do not normally have the truth of America’s dirty laundry being aired in public or the realisation that somewhere in the U.K. or any other country the underworld is not just in bed with law and order but the relationship is consensual and without the use of protection.

The true story of one of America’s most violent criminals, James ‘Whitey’ Bulger and the now notorious Winter Hill Gang is one that can send shivers of both revulsion and unnerving fascination down the spines of the earnest cinema-goer and film fan. It is a story that may have passed many by, even those that try to keep up with the many facets of American culture, and yet the tale of F.B.I. endorsed racketeering, corruption and murder is one that should come as no surprise.

The film looks at the life of Mr. Bulger from the time he was released from prison and his fateful meeting with his brother’s old school friend and turned F.B.I. Agent to the moment he was finally captured, a time scale of some 45 years. The sheer violence he had raging under the polite Irish/American demeanour, his funding of the I.R.A., the ease in which he manipulated people into coming onto his side and the terror he wrecked upon those who stood up to him.

For Johnny Depp to take on such a role should also not be a surprise and yet arguably in his long history with the screen he has never been so convincing in the role as he is in Black Mass. The loveable screen idol has been far too long held in the ranks of affection and cradled with deep love by those who see him perhaps as a modern matinee idol rather than a serious and overwhelmingly good actor. Black Mass takes that charm and ramps it up to the point where it seethes oil, where it burns and chokes at the back of the throat and his callous regard and pleasure in the role is gratifying.

With Joel Edgerton providing superb assistance in the role as F.B.I. Agent John Connolly and Jesse Plemons as young thug Kevin Weeks, Black Mass is a film in which to shudder at the thought, a depiction of Boston, American life that had no right to exist and yet managed to do so with swagger and pain.

A great film expertly told and one that recognises the stone that has been kicked over and the torch that has shined on many a disturbing scene.

Ian D. Hall