Black Mass

First Hit:  Very disappointing film as there is little substance about Whitey’s motivation to be the criminal he was.

I was looking forward to seeing this film, because I thought I’d learn something about James “Whitey” Bulger, the man who was on the FBI’s 10 most wanted lists for years.

I learned very little except he, as Johnny Depp played him, had a brother named Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch) that was a State Senator, his childhood friend named John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) was an FBI agent, and that he became an FBI informant to further his criminal career. But there was nothing about what drove Whitey to his life of crime and even more, nothing around the deeper motivation for his killing and crime spree.

The side story about Connolly was mediocre and, in this film, it was obvious his association with Whitey was ill-used and inappropriate. It was bad script-writing, poor direction, poor acting and/or a combination of any of these resulting in the audience being un-engaged while the payoff never arrived.

Depp had a great look for the film, and it appears he did what the script and director called for, but there wasn’t enough there to make it interesting. Cumberbatch was excellent in his small role and his meetings with Connolly were perfectly executed. Edgerton was OK, and it issue seemed to be the way the script was written and how the director wanted him to be emphatic about how Whitey was helping the FBI. It just didn’t see it working as a real story. Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth wrote the script that lacked backstory as to why Whitey took up a life of crime while his brother became a State Senator. Scott Cooper didn’t seem to see how the way he filmed this story lacked interest. The subject is a fascinating one, but it was all lost within intense vignettes.

Overall:  This film lacked depth and interest.

Out of the Furnace

First Hit:  Although there is some very good acting, this film floundered and was unorganized.

Unorganized for me means that there seemed to be two different films or storylines, mashed together by the supposed storyline written by Brad Ingelsby and Director Scott Cooper.

This story line is revenge. However, some of the shots by Cooper were fantastic. For instance, the opening shot, where the camera starts from high and moves into the back of a car sitting in a drive in movie theater is really good. The shot shows the types of cars/trucks while the sense of segregated community (separated by their older cars) but all watching the same film.

The second scene is inside the car where the next bit of dialogue and action sets up the angry uncaring life of Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson). He comes from the hills in New Jersey where law and order is defined by who is toughest and meanest, not the police. This view of Harlan and his cohorts is one film. 

The other film is about Russell Baze (Christian Bale), his brother Rodney (Casey Affleck), and Russell’s love Lena Taylor (Zoe Saldana). The mashup is Rodney’s struggle to find a life after a number of tours of Iraq. Being angry and lost he gambles, gets into debt to John Petty (Willem Dafoe) who is indebted to Harlan. This is where the stretch doesn't work.

I won’t move the storyline any more here, but despite the wonderful individual performances the story felt disjointed and forced.

Harrelson was in the vein of his roles in “Natural Born Killers” and “Zombieland”; dark, caring only about himself, and mean. He does this well and I like it. Bale is fantastic as a guy trying to do right by his family and girl while be caught by his wish to take care of his brother. Affleck is strong as a smart good looking guy carrying the struggles and demons he builds through war and family life. Saldana is wonderful as a woman who wants stability and family in her life. Dafoe is very good as the guy who owns a bar but makes book on the side. Forest Whitaker is intense and wonderful as a friend of Baze and as Police Chief Wesley Barnes in a small steel town in Pennsylvania where the Baze’s live. Sam Shepard is strong in a minor role as a Baze relative.  Ingelsby wrote an interesting script but it was either this script or the direction of Cooper that had it go off track.

Overall:  In parts, great. As a whole the film was mostly incongruent.

Crazy Heart

First Hit: Jeff Bridges fully embodies “Bad” Blake in this extremely well acted performance in a really good film about redemption.

Jeff Bridges plays “Bad” Blake a rundown, broken down, and down on his luck drunken country singer who, at age 57, finds himself playing small bars and bowling alleys.

Scott Cooper (director) did a great job of giving the audience a strong picture of who “Bad” is prior to hearing him sing for the first time at a bowling alley. He arrives at the alley, climbs out of the old beat up Suburban he drives and slowly buttons up his pants and buckles his belt.

We see that he drives a long ways between gigs and because he has a sizable gut, he unbuttons his pants and belt buckle while he drives to make himself more comfortable. He walks into the bowling alley to check the place out and discovers they won’t cover his bar bill but will only cover room and food because his reputation as a drinker has precedes him.

The alley owner tells him there is no smoking in the building but he can finish the one in his mouth. He checks into the dumpy motel they've set up for him, then heads out to find some alcohol. The leader of the backup band comes to his room and tells him the band wants to rehearse. He deflects him by giving him sheet music, the playlist and a CD to listen to, saying everything you need to know is here.

The band leader insists he come to the rehearsal so “Bad” says he’ll be there in an hour, but we already know he won’t show. He finds more booze, lights up another cigarette and lies in the motel in a drunken haze but gets up in time to get to the alley for his first set.

The backup band is waiting for him outside and “Bad” mumbles something like; I’ve never been late or miss a show in my life whether I’ve been drunk or not. He invites the boys to follow him to start playing some music.

Climbing on stage, strapping on his guitar, they begin the first song, and you see why he’s still able to make a living – he’s good, damn good. We follow “Bad” to his next gig where he meets Jean Craddock (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) who wants to interview him.

A relationship begins to develop and it is here that we begin to see a slow transformation of Bridge's character.

Bridges gives the kind of performance that sets him apart from other actors in that he fully embodies this character. Not only is Bridges a credible drunk, loner and washed up has been, he does an outstanding job of singing and playing guitar which brings life to “Bad’s” existence. Gyllenhaal is wonderful as a mother who must measure her feelings of love for a high risk man against what will be good for her and her son as she becomes involved with “Bad”. Robert Duval credibly plays “Bad’s” friend Wayne and is there to help “Bad” through the rough times along with giving him some advice along the way. The most detrimental part of this film was the casting Colin Farrell as Tommy Sweet who was mentored by “Bad” and became a Number 1 Country Star. Farrell seems to carry his head down and doesn’t look at the person he is talking to most of the time. It was as if he was embarrassed by the part or his job in the part.

Overall: This was a wonderful film about how it is never too late to step back into one’s life fully.