Black Mass 2015

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: This is a good, solid, well-executed crime story. Nothing more, nothing less. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: The acting here is much stronger and more soulful than I would have expected, and not only from Depp. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Welcome back to the real world, Mr. Depp. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: Johnny Depp does career-best work as notorious Boston gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger in Scott Cooper's taut, elegantly understated crime drama. Read more

Jesse Hassenger, AV Club: Black Mass more or less limits itself to procedural status. Within those aims, it's a pretty good one, absorbing and well-made. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The acting in "Black Mass" is tremendous. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The movie's good enough that you should see it if you want to. But you don't have to, and, in these parts, that matters. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: This is the sort of movie Sidney Lumet might have made in his prime -- intelligently written, handsomely mounted, and loaded with top actors. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: In scene after scene, some fine actors go to town and dive into the material gratefully. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: [Depp] holds the screen as pure malevolence. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: It's absolutely chilling to watch Depp. With bad teeth and a head of dramatically receding hair, the actor somewhat resembles Jack Nicholson in The Departed but deftly avoids caricature as he grows more sinister with every murder. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: With all the talent on board here, expectations go beyond creepiness; unfortunately creepiness is about as far as the movie ultimately goes. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: If there's a problem with Black Mass, it's that the general arc of the story is well known...its details reflect the plot points of many other gangster films. But it's the getting there that's the thrill. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: It's a very good film about a very bad man. But as well-crafted and well-acted as it is, it never rises to greatness because we've been watching this story in one way or another going back to the time of Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Depp shines in a solid gangster biopic. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A bleak, claustrophobic based-on-fact film that draws us completely into a dark world of crime and complicity. Read more

Tony Hicks, San Jose Mercury News: "Black Mass" is a riveting character study and might land Depp an Oscar nomination, even if the film itself is not very ambitious. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Black Mass struggles to find something new to say about organized crime and the loyalty between men. But the only thing the film manages to do is remind us we've seen all this stuff done before, and done better. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Depp's brutal antihero is the highlight of this compelling if somewhat familiar gangster movie. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: How much longer must we subscribe, as moviegoers, to the sentimental brotherhood of violence? Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: There are moments of icy violence, and some great lived-in faces among the characters. But this is no "Goodfellas." It's just another punk, talking tough. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Black Mass isn't The Departed, and it's a bit too black and white. But movie mobster fans can relax, cause the movie doesn't need to have a hit taken out on it. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: I'm as susceptible as any other deskbound, conflict-averse fantasist to the visceral appeal of a good gangster movie. But "Black Mass" isn't one. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Black Mass, a down and dirty crime drama based on the exploits of Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, is thrilling for a number of reasons. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: For Black Mass, Johnny Depp has dusted off his A-game, which has lain dormant for far too long. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: You forgive the zigs, zags, evasions and subplots for the hardcore power of Depp's performance and the film's portrait of moral rot on both sides of the law. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's one of those movies that you don't exactly enjoy (so many guns, so many deaths), but you appreciate for its craft and tension, and for its cast's willingness to lose themselves in the darkness. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: "Black Mass" is a solid piece of filmmaking, from subtle beginning to the excessive end. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Depp's performance as Bulger is as strong, and as energized, as anything he's done on screen for years. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Black Mass" is the sort of gangland film you would call run of the mill, if only it dashed faster. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: The role is Depp's best in many years, and a welcome respite from the parade of prancing pseudo-villains-Mortdecai, the Wolf, Barnabas Collins, Jack Sparrow, Willy Wonka-to which he has devoted far too much of his career. Read more

Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail: Whenever Depp is on screen, nothing else matters. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A crime drama that creeps and drips blood like a horror movie, and in many respects it is. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: This is Depp bringing his skills to the table as a man with a propensity for being both terrifying and charming, often switching between the two on a dime. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Johnny Depp is more engaging than he's been in years, even if his performance can feel a little restricted and one-note. Read more

Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun: Propelled by a raw and primal performance by Johnny Depp, Scott Cooper's Black Mass will have you barricading your doors and hiding under the bed after seeing this corrosive gangster film. Read more

Brian Truitt, USA Today: While there's nothing totally new here, Black Mass works the tropes extremely well and sets the scene early in the mean streets of 1970s South Boston. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: Black Mass is a tightly wound piece of work, and Cooper keeps its many small parts moving with ease. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: It's as if the spirit of a psychopath like Bulger resists the camera. Or maybe the movie isn't imaginative enough to penetrate his shell. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: What "Black Mass" gains in moral honesty, it loses in dramatic momentum. Even filmmakers and actors as fine as these haven't managed to solve one of cinema's most enduring challenges - making criminals interesting without exalting them. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "Black Mass" isn't pretty, but it certainly is strong. Read more