DEPP BACK ON TRACK WITH BLACK MASS.
Johnny Depp used impressive cloaking devices to portray the flouncy Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films and the loony Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.
While he is almost unrecognizable again as crime boss Whitey Bulger in Black Mass, there is nothing fanciful about his latest disguise.
The actor’s shroud is devoted to exposing the essence of a balding psychopathic killer, yet he credits Black Mass director Scott Cooper for what appears to be a rejuvenating performance.
“I can only thank Scott for reviving my career,” says Depp during an exclusive Canadian interview with a trio of reporters before the movie’s Toronto International Film Festival premiere.
Indeed, pundits seem to agree that the 52-year-old’s Black Mass emoting puts him back on track after a string of uneven efforts in a series of movies, including Transcendence, Dark Shadows, The Lone Ranger and Mortdecai.
Black Mass is loosely based on the book by Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill who investigated the insidious link between Boston crime boss Bulger (Depp) and FBI Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton).
The subsequent investigation led to Bulger escaping from his beloved Boston. After 16 years at large, Bulger was arrested in 2011 on the West Coast. He was subsequently sentenced to two life sentences for his part in extortion, racketeering and 11 murders.
The movie written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth focuses on the decades-long illegal confederacy between Bulger and Connolly after Bulger cut a deal as an FBI informant to bring down a competing Mafia gang. It’s a story in two parts: One chronicles Bulger’s subsequent terrifying reign as the Irish-American crime kingpin of South Boston and beyond, while the other narrative recounts the FBI’s mistakes as Connolly becomes compromised.
Co-starring is Benedict Cumberbatch who plays Bulger’s brother, Billy, a powerful lawyer and politician. Dakota Johnson is Bulger’s long-suffering girlfriend. Kevin Bacon portrays the FBI chief who finally realizes Connolly has been corrupted.