Black Mass and Acting Beats
Tuesday, November 24, 2015 at 11:07PM If there's a surprise SAG Best Ensemble nominee this year on December 9th, you should fully expect it to be Black Mass. Not that something can be a surprise when you fully expect it but let's not split hairs. Especially not hairs carefully threaded through bald caps.
It's just that it's that kind of movie in all sorts of ways: The kind that opens in September; The kind that has an awards aura and some initial heat but seems to be "over" until everyone remembers that SAG's ever-rotating nominating committee is not centrally located and is thus often a bit behind the general Oscar discussion trajectory and not just because they vote earlier than Oscar voters; The kind of movie wherein every face is at least mildly famous or completely familiar.
Indeed, it's a movie that surely sparked many 'Hey, it's that guy!' conversations among civilians who don't memorize every actor's name like the lot of us do. And not just because Rory Cochrane and W Earl Brown are in it. Even the smallest parts are filled with actors who can and do or should fill much bigger roles in other entertainments: Corey Stoll, Peter Sarsgaard, Juno Temple, Adam Scott, David Harbour, Julianne Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, or actors of-the-moment who Hollywood casting directors seem constitutionally incapable of living without whether they fit the project or not: Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Jesse Plemons.
You might have guessed, listening to the latest podcast, that I didn't much like it. We all have our blind spots or, rather, aversion spots when it comes to movie subgenres. One of mine is movies about tough guys wherein every scene revolves around guys doing machismo dances of intimidation, threats, and general one-upmanship (paired with physical interpretations of the same - i.e. shooting, brawls, torture). I find that kind of movie incredibly dull and stale from decades of similar films unless the filmmaking is really snappy and borderline genius (think Scorsese at his best), or unless the script and acting are so strong that repeated scenes made up of similar tough guy/tough talk elements don't feel repetitive because they're so fucking dynamic (think Tarantino at his best).
Thus Black Mass was a slog for this cinephile, it's 122 minutes so repetitive that when things really started to cook right toward the end (i.e. the vise closing on the characters) it was much too little dynamism much too late.
Nevertheless in the interest of being generous, here are the 6 performance beats that thrilled me the most therein.
01. Julianne Nicholson's condescending half laugh/half wretching sound at her suck-up husband in the kitchen while he's trying to entertain his guests
02. Peter Sarsgaard's "I'm a dead man!" sweating. It's so big it sails right over 'over the top' and plunges headfirst into 'drowning in an ocean of it'. It's as if his entire junkie essence is both a suicide wish and a revulsion about the suicide wish. Peter's been a rejuvenated actor of late. Here's hoping for a major role / movie soon.
03. The way David Harbour tries to convince his frozen worry face to fall into frattish dismissive laughter in the "family recipe" scene but just can't (from fear) and won't (from rage) at the very last second.
04. Juno Temple's dimwitted approval-seeking regurgitation of her conversations with the police. Yes... yes... she plays this kind of character way too often but she's good at it. Or as Nick recently joked...
"Hi, this is Juno Temple's agent. We're wondering if you could use a sexually corrupted childwoman in your movie?" "No, not in Suffragette."
— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) October 5, 2015
"Hi, I represent Juno Temple. We're curious, does this 'bridge' feature any sexually corrupted childwomen, or just spies?" "No, spies only."
— Nick Davis (@NicksFlickPicks) October 5, 2015
05. The way Julianne Nicholson doesn't pander to audience gratification with inner toughness in the aftermath of her grotesquely violating run-in with Johnny Depp's gangster but instead crumples defeated and shaking. Nicholson is perpetually undervalued -- Black Mass doesn't seem remotely interested in her -- and this needs to stop. She's obviously just hitting her peak as an actress (see also: Masters of Sex, August: Osage County)
05. Corey Stoll's complete absence of levity as the new hard ass boy scout boss who has zero time for your good ol boy back scratching 'not strictly legal' bullshit... so pissy and righteous in his first scene it's like he's already fired the entire staff in his head before walking into the office. Hell, before he even signed the offer letter for the position weeks before his entrance.
Johnny Depp is perfectly ...fine in the movie. But the Best Actor buzz seems awfully generous since it's a performance with no surprises; this is exactly how any capable actor would play a sociopathic gangster and you'd expect a little more for an actor so reknowned for his creativity and charisma. It doesn't help that he's wearing all that distracting makeup since this role was supposed to rescue him from the cartoon characters. More troubling, narratively, is that not for a single second do Benedict Cumberbatch and Depp successfully convince you that they're brothers, let alone deeply mysteriously connected brothers despite their differences, in their scenes together.
Reader Comments (18)
This is the type of film that will be nominated for SAG ensemble but the truly great performances would not be eligible for the award due to the "title card rule."
I haven't seen "Black Mass" since male dominated mob films are a category I feel I have seen enough of. However even a passing glance at that cast list could invite SAG to think of in terms of ensemble award. Trouble is just about every film that is in the running has a genuine, grade A, cast. I think the competition from Steve Jobs, Spotlight, Sicario, etc will be too strong.
However Black Mass did manage to land both Benedict Cumberbatch & Juno Temple - how nice to re-unite the happy couple from Atonement. Juno Temple is still playing sexually corrupt girl women, but Cumberbatch has been lucky enough to move on from child rapist. Thank God.
Seems I am in the minority, but I really liked Black Mass. I didn't find the prosthetics on Depp to be distracting at all. I also forgot that it was Depp.
Sarsgaard was so good. Is there any chance he could nab a best supporting spot, or am I really being too optimistic?
I agree that Cumberbatch was a weak link. Really odd casting.
Cosign on the boredom. And lol at Depp being filmed at one point like Nosferatu, lurking in the shadows.
I actually fell asleep while watching this. Twice.
HATED the movie, loved the acting, except for Depp, who is fine, as you said.
I have to highlight Sarsgard because I adore actors going for broke way over the top, like, for example, Melissa Leo in The Fighter. It takes courage to act like that and still fleshing out a character really deep.
I was exhausted the first time I saw it and not blown away by it. The second time I was very into it, but still not overwhelmed. I found Depp's performance masterful but impenetrable, which made him seem like a supporting character in Joel Edgerton's character's drama. (Yeah, I thought Edgerton was at least the co-lead.)
Lots of great moments from supporting cast like Nicholson, Temple and Sarsgaard. But in the end, this is no Departed, no Amercian Gangster, no Untouchables. It ain't so bad either.
I want Best Ensemble nominations for The Knick and Getting On and I don't think I'll see them.
Is there any way that Spotlight won't win best ensemble at the SAG awards???
I'm actually annoyed that I wasted my time and money on this movie.
I hated Joel Edgerton in this movie, he was such a revelation in Animal Kingdom, so relaxed, nuanced and in control of every dynamic with every actor, he was great in Warrior too. I don't know what the fuck was he trying to do here, it is a mystery to my why he is campaigning or why people are rooting for him.
Would it be fair to guess that you thought Julianne Nicholson in the acting MVP here Nathaniel?
I was astonished watching this movie--Depp is really great in this. After years of poor choices and lazy work, he really nails it here. He goes to a very scary place, and stays there. I doubt he deserves an Oscar nomination, but he did make me forget both the prostheses and himself. That was way more than I was expecting.
Nicholson and Skaarsgard were great. Edgerton did not deserve his buzzy reviews.
Julianne Nicholson has been killing it lately. (How she wasn't even *nominated* for an Emmy for her fascinating turn in Masters of Sex is beyond me.)
I'd love to see a movie starring Corey Stoll and Julianne Nicholson.
Nick T -- i actually typed up a sentence saying so but deleted because this was getting so long. So yes.
If only the rest of the film had the tension of Julianne Nicholson's key scene, it would've resonated so much more. I also thought it was Depp's best scene, he's never the terrifying Bulger in the rest of the film that he is in this scene.
Nicholson says the last line of the scene was improvised by Depp, which was great for her self-esteem (as a woman, not an actress).
Just saw this. Let's just say that, I fully lean on the "bored, now" side of things. I'd buy Bruce Campbell as Depp's brother before I bought Benedict C. And, frankly, Cumberbatch's accent does not help. It's not a large role, so why not squeeze in Dominic West for those scenes?