by At the end of last week’s MMM: Black Mass column I commented that the campaign seemed to show off a consistent tone of gritty violence across the campaign that echoed, at least for me, the kind of gritty crime dramas that were a staple of the 1970s. Now, having seen the movie, I think that the campaign sold the movie pretty accurately, though with a couple caveats.
Depp and his performance as Bulger was certainly the centerpiece of the movie. He’s a bankable (or at least recognizable) name with the general public and so it makes sense to hang the campaign on the biggest name star. But it did so at the disservice of the supporting cast, which is incredibly strong and who get most of the action in the movie. While Joel Edgerton is in the campaign to some extent, he in particular gets short-shrift when it comes to how that relates to his role in the movie. That’s true to a lesser extent for Benedict Cumberbatch and the rest of the cast.
One thing I notice was almost completely absent from the campaign is the framing device for the movie, which takes the form of statements and confessions being taken from the people who worked with and were around Bulger. That framework provides transitions and context for much of the movie but aside from one or two shots in, I think, one trailer it doesn’t show up at all in the marketing. I don’t think that hurts anything but the campaign led me to believe that might show up once at the beginning of the story as opposed to be a trick the filmmakers went back to time and again whenever they needed to setup a new scene or show how something that had just happened impacted a character years later.
I don’t feel there was anything misleading about the campaign, even though it didn’t give some characters or settings their due. In all this was sold the movie accurately and well.
