Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

williamholewa No inovation, just a clean cut crime movie. The cast was star studded and gave a of promise to the film. But most of the cast was used improperly or unjustly. For someone who knows a good portion of what happened during that period it offered some interesting backstory and just told what happened. If they tried to go off from what really happened and use some creative license I think it would appease a lot of the neh sayers. But I for one enjoyed the movie.

Michael Ledo James "Whitey" Bulger (Johnny Depp) and John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) played cops and robbers on the playground and grew up and played it as adults. Whitey became an informer for FBI agent Connolly in exchange for protection, an alliance which he exploited. Based on a true story, the film's action and drama was a cut below its fictional counterparts. While Depp gives us a great performance, the film moved in a slow gear. We learned that jai alai is crooked, which is common knowledge to just about everyone.The characters in the film were very stiff for South Boston. And while Depp and the film will be nominated for something, I found it to be over rated and no better than a TV docu-drama. Watch "The Town" instead.Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

areatw Had a less talented actor taken the lead in 'Black Mess', it wouldn't have been half the film it is. Johnny Depp completely carries this film, elevating what is some very average material and a generic script to something that is at least engaging and occasionally entertaining. His portrayal of notorious gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger is brilliant, and is the sole reason that 'Black Mass' is worth watching.Depp aside, this film doesn't have much going for it. As someone who watches a lot of crime/dramas, there's nothing about the storyline or script of 'Black Mass' that makes it stand out. It's dominated by scenes of blood and violence and often gets carried away with itself, but beyond the high level production and Depp's excellent acting, 'Black Mess' is just a standard gangster film.

SlyGuy21 I remember liking this a lot when I first saw it, but on watching it a second time, there are a couple of problems. Depp's great here, there's no denying that, in fact the majority of the cast is great here, the main problem is focus. The film really has no plot, it just jumps from moment to moment, without any real connection. It's obviously about Bulger being an informant, but I feel like this could've been handled better than this. Scott Cooper has talent here though, he has a passion for what he does, but he's a bit overzealous with this being only his third film. It takes cues from other mob movies well, there's nothing here that feels like a blatant knock-off of "Goodfellas" or "Casino", and the story here could be interesting with better connectivity. In the hands of Scorsese, this would've been a classic, but Scorsese already did this, he did "The Departed". I know that comparison has been made a million times before, but it's just a better, more engaging movie than this. The performances are great, the premise is great, it just lacks focus. It hits all the bases, just not hard enough to really leave an impact. This might've worked better as a miniseries actually, not condensed into a 2 hour movie. I like Scott Cooper though, I think he has serious potential, similar to "Hostiles", a few minor changes and this would've been a lot better.