Black Mass - B+

Rated R, 122 minutes

The understated, slow-moving yet superbly acted true crime drama "Black Mass" is terrifying enough even without knowing that it's a real story, which makes it scarier. The fall movie going just got a lot heavier, and expect to see plenty of accolades for Johnny Depp's truly chilling performance as Boston crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger. The film depicts Bulger's story in the 1970s and '80s, who is a prominent leader of organized crime in South Boston and whose brother is Massachusetts State Senator William "Billy" Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch). Following a string of violent acts, he becomes an FBI informant for 30 years in order to take down a Mafia family invading his turf, with unlikely help from an old childhood friend John Connelly (Joel Edgerton), who worked at the Bureau. Directed by Scott Cooper ("Crazy Heart") and co-written by Jez Butterworth ("Edge of Tomorrow") and Mark Mallouk and based on the 2001 novel "Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob" by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill, "Black Mass" is an understandably dark, and bloody but fascinating, complex crime drama that speaks to friendship, loyalty and lots of killing. "Mass" is memorably grounded by a mesmerizing, Oscar-worthy performance from Depp as real-life crime boss and killer Bulger, who is currently serving time in prison. Depp's weird on and off-screen persona has been misused cinematically the last few years in a string of bad movies, but "Black Mass" is a perfect fit for his talents; more importantly, he doesn't overplay it in showy DeNiro or Pacino fashion, emanating a cold, disturbing feel that perfectly captures the psychotic Bulger persona. Director Cooper shows growth as a director with this outing, skillfully handling the material and the ambitious production, with classic cars, clothes and hair, adeptly gives the feel of 1970s and '80s Boston. "Black Mass" has a semi-epic feel to it, with an overabundance of plotting and characters to keep track of (and probably many others left out of the tale); of the large supporting cast, Edgerton gives the strongest performance, while others are less memorable, including Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Rory Cochrane, Peter Sarsgaard and especially the women - Dakota Johnson and Julianne Nicholson - are given very little to do. The entertaining, scary "Black Mass" is peppered with a few violent, unpleasant acts of killing, but it's Depp frightening Bulger turn that will stay with you long after the film is over, and will be a true crime if he isn't remembered come Oscar nomination time.