South Boston, or 'Southie', has been the subject of many a crime film over the past decade and a half. Movies like The Town, Southie, The Departed and even Good Will Hunting have striven to accurately portray one of the roughest neighbourhoods in the United States. But one notorious figure has yet to be portrayed on film; that of James 'Whitey' Bulger (Okay so not necessarily true, Martin Scorsese's The Departed was based on his crimes).
Bulger (Johnny Depp) is the leader of the Winter Hill Gang in South Boston during the mid-1970s. He is well known in the community as both a gangster and a pillar of the community. His brother Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch), a state senator, is contacted by their childhood friend John Connelly (Joel Edgerton), who is now a FBI agent who has been tasked with reducing Mafia activity in Boston. He sees Bulger as the key to bringing down this stranglehold they have. So Bulger becomes an informant, all the while continuing his own criminal activity.
This success of this film hinges entirely on whether or not you find Depp's performance as Bulger convincing. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't convinced. Yes, he is unnerving, but I wasn't scared by him, which is the whole point. I think that they were relying on his makeup and new look to add to the performance but it did nothing for me. Outside of this, there isn't too much going on. At a stretch you could say that the intrigue surrounding Bulger's manipulation of the FBI is interesting, but not enough to be exciting.
In fact the film seems like it purposefully goes out of its way to be obtuse. There is a whole subplot involving who owns World Jai-Alai, a sport the movie even admits no one knows what it is (unless you're like me and you do know what it is (I lie, I have no idea what they're doing)). I also feel like this film is needlessly violent. I know Whitey Bulger was an incredibly psychotic film, but you don't need to show every single murder he committed. Sometimes implied violence is just as effective. I also feel like the movie dropped the ball with the ending. It is a well known fact that Bulger was apprehended in 2011, yet the film ends in 1995 with an epilogue about his capture.
Because Depp's performance is so dominant here that the others don't really get a look in. Joel Edgerton's is the only one that is on par with Depp, but it isn't very good. Everyone else is really in the background which is disappointing considering the cast. Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott and Rory Cochrane are all fantastic actors, and while they are in a lot of scenes, they aren't the focus of any of them. Corey Stoll is the only minor performance given any notice, which is good because he carries those scenes. Women are hugely under represented with Dakota Johnson and Julianne Nicholson given barely any screen time.
A hugely disappointing and largely unnecessary biopic. It is not at all engaging, so if you want to see a better film about Whitey Bulger, go rewatch The Departed.
