Movie Review: Black Mass 2015

Black Mass
Directed By: Scott Cooper
Rated: R
Cast: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon
Plot:
In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster James "Whitey" Bulger (Johnny Depp) to collaborate with the FBI and eliminate a common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Whitey to evade law enforcement, consolidate power, and become one of the most ruthless and powerful gangsters in Boston history.

I didn't know much about this true story before walking into a local theater recently. All I knew was the following: Johnny Depp was playing a gangster. That was pretty much it. Sure, I could have Googled the whole plot and it's in-depth history but I decided to go in blind, see what the movie makers did.

Say what you will about Johnny Depp and his personal life choices, on screen the man is acting platinum. I've been watching him since 21 Jump Street and his many roles have time and again landed him some outstanding reviews. The man can act! Just plain and simple. Some people naturally have it and some people don't.

This film runs at a slow simmer for the most part, it reels you in a bit at a time. Before you know it, you're whacking guys down by the river and grabbing beers at the bar with the fellas. (Just don't put your hands all over the peanuts.) It's all fun and games until someone goes too far and the heat is turned up on this band of killers. And trust me on this, they are straight up cold blooded killers.

The whole story takes place over about 20 years, yet it's hard to believe that thugs like this could have gotten away with crimes so outlandish. I guess that's what happens behind the scenes when corruption gets it's devilish hands on men of power. I'll say this, you won't leave the theater not knowing who Whitey is and fearing the Hades out of him.

If you enjoy true crime stories with grit all based on the inner workings of the mob, love a well written and acted movie, then go check this out. The cast across the board is amazing!

Getting 4 'don't say nothin ta nobody' Sheep

KD

Sheep Movie Review: Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, stars Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, and Joel Edgerton. From the director that brought us The Hurt Locker we now have a film that feels like a hard-hitting sequel. While it's a story that should be told, I'm not quiet sure it needed to be told this way.

Plot: 

For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. Zero Dark Thirty reunites the Oscar winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for the story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man. 

I love a good war story, as weird and sick as that sounds, I just do. I enjoyed The Hurt Locker and thought Jeremy Renner did a fantastic job as the wacky bomb guy, but I didn't feel the same about this latest middle east edition. The first 45 minutes of the film are tedious and crawl at a snail's pace. I'm not saying I need a bunch of action and naked men to make me happy, but I do need something a bit more gripping then what was offered. I have no clue what the CIA jargon was that took up a good portion of this film. Not to say I'm simple minded or stupid, ok maybe a little, but I've never been to CIA school and I'm not going to know half of the things you're prattling on about. Is this a movie for everyone or for a select crowd? It felt like you needed a degree in war tactics and foreign affairs to figure out who was doing what to whom and why. 

Aside from the CIA ongoings, we have a woman fresh out of school who's in Iraq and taking part in her first torture/interrogation. Water boarding was first on the menu and while it looked like a romping good time you can tell the dude who's on the receiving end isn't singing yippie doda day. As we move on with the Black Site super secret locations we find that Jessica is part of the special unit that's tasked with finding the top terrorists, gathering intel and hunting down the most wanted out there, which includes bin Laden. 

There's a lot of covert, black-ops types of ongoings, buying of information from folks that have relations with the terrorist groups and more torture and punishments. You do get a good picture of just how hard it is to track someone down that's staying off the grid. TV shows make it seem as thought his should be some easy job to perform, but as we learn this is not the case. When someone wants to stay off gone they will, and bin Laden was one of them. 

We all know that the terrorist mastermind was taken out by our military boys. When the film finally gets to the day of the OP everything happens fast and gets intense, with all the build-up leading to this point. Jessica was nominated for her role in this film, but I really don't think she deserves it. Not to say she's a bad actress or anything, but there's not much emotion going on in the film. She has one scene of yelling at her boss but aside from that she's playing a tough bitchy chick who's goal is to find bin Laden and bring him down, which took years of her life and everyone else involved with this mission. 

I get it, it's a story that needed to be told but at the same time I was quiet bored with the delivery. With five Oscar Nominations there must be something more here that I failed to see. If you liked The Hurt Locker and you enjoy watching people talk nonstop about the comings and goings of terrorists then you'll get more out of this film then I did. 

Getting 3 and 1/2 'back in the box' Sheep 

KD