Director: Scott Cooper

Actors: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton and Benedict Cumberbatch

Dramatic scenes, a clever script and based on a real life: what more can you ask for in a mob movie? Black Mass, thanks to its talented cast and crew, has become a gangster tale for the books.

In this thriller, the audience is taken into the life of James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious South Boston gangster and headman for the Winter Hill Gang. Black Mass showcases Bulger’s in the 1970s and 1980s, a time when the FBI was focused on taking down as many gangsters and mobs as possible, one of which was Bulger’s rivals, the Italian-American Patriarca crime family. With this in mind, the formidable gangster decides to become an informant for the FBI in order to take down the opposing gang along while earning some immunity for his own.

The exceptional script created by Mark Mallouck and Jez Butterworth, the direction of Scott Cooper and the work of the actors such as Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch and Joel Edgerton make a brilliant film.

Depp is almost unrecognizable as Bulger, a man with a pointed nose, an ice-cold attitude and a glare to match. While his looks may haunt your nightmares, they are in comparison to the eerie composure of himself and his gang while they’re doing what they are known for: giving the audience a glimpse of an insensitivity that’s hard to comprehend. This, along with the obscene language and violence woven throughout the film, testifies the R rating.

Although Black Mass has many attributes, the fact that it’s based on real life truly solidifies the strength of the movie while making it just that much more haunting.

The movie gives the audience a first-hand look at the workings of a mob, definitely fulfilling the amount of violence one may reasonably expect from a mob movie.

There are intense, adrenaline rush-inducing scenes that will make the faint-hearted look away, but all the iron-stomached, gore lovers out there shouldn’t worry, for they will undoubtedly leave the theater content.

This being said, Black Mass is more than just a crude, brutal mob movie; by showcasing the other aspects of Bulger’s life, the film brings out an array of emotions from the audience.

Cumberbatch and Edgerton star as Whitey’s senator brother and childhood-pal-turned-FBI-agent, respectively. Dakota Johnson stands out as his wife, Lindsey Cyr, a surprisingly tame woman who makes you feel weirdly proud and scared for her safety at the same time.

By getting this personal look into Bulger’s life, the audience gets the chance to observe some of the other sides of him, adding to the dynamics of the film.

Black Mass has all the makings for a great mob movie: a talented cast, a fast paced and intense script and those dramatic scenes that simultaneously make you want to look away but prevent you from doing so. Through all these great moments, Black Mass truly proves itself to be a hit.