Every single advertisement for “Black Mass” has focused on just one aspect of the film: Johnny Depp’s performance as James ‘Whitey’ Bulger. While he gives a fresh and fascinating performance, it’s disappointing how lackluster the rest of the film is in comparison.

The film chronicles the criminal activities of an actual 1970s Boston crime lord, Whitey Bulger, played by Depp. Bulger is the twisted type of gangster who chats with his victims before shooting them in the back of the head mid-sentence. FBI worker and childhood friend of Bulger, John Connolly, played by Joel Edgerton, decides to grant Bulger immunity if he agrees to be an informant. Bulger complies and gives valuable information, but he uses his power to run rampant across Boston, eventually becoming too much for even the FBI to control.

To start with the best aspect, Johnny Depp gives a chilling performance as Whitey Bulger. His pale blue eyes and slicked-back blonde hair made him look like a gangster, but Depp’s growling voice and emotionless attitude sell the performance. His menacing scowl is intimidating enough, but it’s his smile that lets you know this man is off the deep end. Anyone Bulger doesn’t like is as good as dead. He could not have taken a more welcome change from his goofy performance in “Mortdecai” earlier this year, which I reviewed [here](http://move.themaneater.com/stories/2015/1/27/mortdecai-fails-impress/#.Vf8QX2TBzGc).

While Depp gave the performance of a lifetime, the other actors cause a weird issue: there are too many notable actors in this movie for its own good. Usually having a well-known cast works great, but since this is based on a true story, it felt bizarre to see Benedict Cumberbatch putting on a Boston accent as Bulger’s brother, Adam Scott sporting a goofy mustache as a minor FBI agent, Kevin Bacon portraying the grumpy FBI boss, and Corey Stoll looking and dressing the exact same as he did as the villain in “Ant-Man.” Their performances weren’t especially bad, but they were distracting and could not hold a candle to Depp’s.

Another uneven aspect of the film was the story. In small bits, the plot shined. There is a dinner scene involving a family recipe where the tension was palpable in the theater, and I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat. In fact, most scenes with Depp held me invested just to see what his psychotic character would do next. When Depp feels a woman’s forehead to see if she’s sick, my imagination was running wild with what could happen if she said something to make him snap. All the depictions of horrific violence that Bulger commits also hold an extra punch given that this happened in real life.

But then there are the scenes with the FBI, which were boring and surprisingly predictable. Not to spoil anything, but if you have seen any crime movies by Martin Scorsese then you understand how the plot will play out, and “Black Mass” doesn’t throw any surprises.

By far the worst part of the plot is the ending, which takes a tell-don’t-show approach to what is supposed to be the climax of the film. It falls flat. I understand that the film is based off real-life events, but the ending came off as rushed and didn’t leave an impact, which it should have given the insanity of the source material.

Another complaint that is becoming frustratingly common with me is the title: like my previously reviewed [“We Are Your Friends”](http://move.themaneater.com/stories/2015/9/2/we-are-your-friends-spins-its-wheels/#.Vf8exWTBzGc) and [“The Man from U.N.C.L.E,”](http://move.themaneater.com/stories/2015/9/2/we-are-your-friends-spins-its-wheels/#.Vf8e1mTBzGc) the title of the film fails to connect to the film itself, which makes no sense.

Does it refer to a religious mass, since there is a throwaway one-minute scene of a mass where everyone wears black? Or it calling Bulger a black mass, which also doesn’t make sense since he has pale skin and white hair and does most of his murders in broad daylight? I hope director Scott Cooper has a good reason for the title, because I didn’t understand it going into the film, and I didn’t understand it coming out.

Overall, Johnny Depp’s phenomenal performance does not save what is ultimately a mediocre mobster movie.

_MOVE gives “Black Mass” three out of five stars._