Popular reviews

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  Review by ghostdinosaur ½ 9

  Early on in the film a bunch of gangsters are hanging out in a car and one of them starts to tell a story about how he heard porn stars in Los Angeles eat a bunch of celery right before they perform. He gets interrupted and never explains why they do this. I was more interested in hearing the end of that story than anything that happened over the next 100 minutes of movie.

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  Review by matt lynch ★★½ 4

  Scott Cooper is evidently very good at letting famous actors do whatever they want in classy but largely generic films. Here Johnny Depp gives yet another idiosyncratic, physical performance as a charismatic psycho, and who the fuck cares?

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★½ 8

  45/100

  Black Mass, even in spite of its flourishing mediocrity and uneventful storyline, is worth seeing just to witness Johnny Depp transform himself into a dizzying vampire of vicious brutality and horrifying EEEEEVILLLNESSSSSS. His cackling persona of devious stares and violent outbursts can only be described as Joe Pesci with all the humor sucked out of his detailed mannerisms. It works in a strangely unique way, and Depp's demonic presence is the glue holding this entire kindergarten Gangster project together.

  Montages, slow-motion, assorted pop tunes, and operatic showcases of violence all are within Black Mass, as well as the sly Boston-Accent bickering and "FUCK YOU!" "NO, FUCK YOUUUU!" arguments of typical Gangster ventures. Usually, tropes like this weave perfectly into…

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  Review by Gonzo ★★★★ 5

  ▶ 2015 Movie Rankings

  "Strictly criminal."

  Welcome back, Mr. Depp.

  We missed ya. We fucking missed ya.

  Johnny Depp comes out of retirement and shoots straight to the front of the Oscar race with one of his most impressive performances yet.

  That Whitey Bulger is one interesting individual. A complex criminal that's both charismatic ("Oh, look, he likes helping the elderly." "Aw, he loves his kid and his family.") and downright terrifying. ("Oh no, he's giving that dude the talk. Bang. Dead." "Fuck, he's doing it again. Headshot. Dead." "Oh shit, he... Yup, he just strangled that girl. Dead.") A no-good, scheming, distrustful, trigger-happy, psychopathic son of a bitch.

  Ensemble cast is pretty strong across the board. Out of the…

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  Review by Evan ★★★½ 7

  Johnny Depp might still be covered in make-up for this role, but at least he's not running around like a babbling idiot. Instead he plays a very dark, heartless, and brutal man and he knocks it out of the park. Black Mass is filled with fantastic performances, Johnny Depp and Joel Edgerton being the standouts.

  My biggest issue with this film is that it's a bit hollow and slow moving. While, I was always interested in what was going on, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bored some of the time.

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  Review by Matt Singer ★★½ 1

  Jawny Depp’s pretty good, but the othuh actors could have done a bettuh jawb with the Bahston accents.

  HEY LETTUHBAWXED READ TIFF '15 REVIEW #10: screencrush.com/black-mass-review/

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  Review by CinemaCl🎃wn ★★★ 4

  Bolstered by a truly magnificent performance from the actor who has a penchant for playing larger-than-life characters, Black Mass is another entry into last year's long list of biopics and although it paints a gripping portrait of a notorious crime boss, it's also marred by its generic plot & uneventful storytelling.

  Based on a true story, Black Mass chronicles the criminal life of infamous Irish-American mobster Whitey "Jimmy" Bulger and focuses on the years when he became an informant for FBI for his own self-interests and assisted them in eliminating the rival gang while carrying out his crime business under federal protection at the same time.

  Directed by Scott Cooper, there isn't really anything worth mentioning about his latest movie other…

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  Review by Filmspotting ★½ 9

  A movie exactly as generically ominous and boring as its title. Cooper and Depp have all the moves down cold but no soul.

  Rory Cochrane though.

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  Review by Esteban Gonzalez ★★★ 2

  “If nobody sees it, it didn't happen.”

  Black Mass is Scott Cooper’s follow up to his dark thriller, Out of the Furnace. This gangster film centers on the true story of one of Boston’s most wanted criminals, Whitey Bulger, an Irish mobster who served as an informant for the FBI against the Italian Mafia for many years, during which time he used the special treatment to get away with committing several gruesome crimes of his own and rise to the top. The film is extremely slow paced and it focuses on the small details of Whitey’s crime life, but it is also a breath of fresh air for its realistic portrayal of the gritty criminal life without sensationalizing these gangsters.…

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  Review by sprizzle ★★½ 4

  In American cinema, when you make a gangster movie, you better make a damn good one. You've got to complete with some of the greatest American movies ever made. When you come out with a movie that's "just good", it's going to go unnoticed. That's the problem with Black Mass. It's just good.

  It uses way too many tired techniques to be notable. It feels like a ripoff of about ten different movies, 5 of those coming from Scorsese. There's more than one way to make a movie, I don't understand why these directors think we need to see it exactly the same way every time. This, plus the repetitious nature of the plot make this two hour movie seem…

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  Review by Anthonythefilmbuff ★★★★

  Depp gives a devishly twisted performance.

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  Review by ToniTalksMovies ★★★★

  I wasn't really following the case, as for me personally I don't really like to be into actor's personal life/the drama/the gossip.

  BUT, it's the outcome. If this means anything that I'll get JOHNNY DEPP back in FRONT OF MY SCREEN.

  I am ready and I AM IN. He is so underrated (Johnny being underrated? I know, but he is!) and he is just versatile and GREAT.

  He is a TOP ACTOR. ❤️ I just hope he gets more roles and that's all I care about!!

  And not trying to offend anyone on here, but this case also shows that being HORRIBLE does NOT belong to just ONE gender. And I'm out.