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Black Mass

2015

Scott Cooper

Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane ...

6.1

17,255

Thriller. Drama The true story of Billy Bulger, Whitey Bulger, FBI agent John Connelly and the FBI's witness protection program that was created by J. Edgar Hoover. An adaptation of the book "Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob," from Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill.

	Author	Review
United States	Scott Foundas Variety	"If Johnny Depp’s mesmerizing performance is the chief selling point of “Black Mass,” there is much else to recommend this sober, sprawling, deeply engrossing evocation of Bulger’s South Boston fiefdom"	POS
United Kingdom	Robbie Collin Telegraph	"Johnny Depp is better than he's been in years. But his co-stars are even better (...) Black Mass invites those comparisons, in part because Cooper’s direction leans so heavily on Scorsese movies past, but it can’t weather them. Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"After too many Caribbean vacations, Johnny Depp finally gets back down to some serious business in Black Mass, a major league real-life gangster film"	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"You forgive the zigs, zags, evasions and subplots for the hardcore power of Depp's performance and the film's portrait of moral rot on both sides of the law. (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of four)"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A confident and nasty film with impressive performances from a starry cast (...) Mallouk and Edgerton’s script introduces some satisfyingly nasty twinges and shocks (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of five)"	POS
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"I'm as susceptible as any other deskbound, conflict-averse fantasist to the visceral appeal of a good gangster movie. But 'Black Mass' isn't one."	NEG
United States	Jessica Kiang IndieWire	"Cooper has revised hard, and at times skates so close to the kind of dizzy dark pleasure that Martin Scorsese's gangster movies exude that it almost gets there. That 'almost,' however might be the film's biggest problem"	NEU
United States	Alonso Duralde The Wrap	"Johnny Depp Returns to Actual Acting in Gripping True-Crime Tale (...) this is Depp’s show all the way, featuring his best dramatic performance since another organized-crime movie, 1997’s “Donnie Brasco.”"	POS
United Kingdom	Geoffrey Macnab The Independent	"Johnny Depp gives an utterly chilling performance as the notorious James 'Whitey' Bulger (...) In its storytelling, 'Black Mass' opts for a linear approach. It is as predictable as any old fashioned morality tale (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU

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