Black Mass is the movie you may have read about or seen in passing, starring a menacing and almost unrecognisable Johnny Depp. In yet another career high, the former heartthrob looks like the kind of baddie that children have nightmares about.

Maybe you saw the trailer – a spectacularly edited and paced hype-builder for this film. Maybe you didn’t. Point being, Black Mass is something that had all the ingredients of a good film – great casting, interesting setting and all based off a true story…

Sadly though, it misses its mark and the film itself is the only facet of the production that doesn’t revolve around ‘hits’.

Set in South Boston, this gang drama is about the Winter Hill Gang and its revered leader Whitey Bulger (played by Depp). It’s 1976, and the city’s underground quarrel is over disputed territory between the Irish mob and the Italian Mafia. The FBI is intervening and has plans to stop organised crime, or at least one side of it, if Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton’s) has his way.

Like Whitey, John was raised in the ‘Southie’. Connolly and Whitey reconnect as adults and create an alliance where Whitey will divulge secrets as an informant, if the FBI eliminates his competition. A game of shadows follows.

People die in every scene, people swear in every scene; it’s a snapshot of a seedy underworld that covers almost two decades of crime and corruption. Whitey is increasingly distrusting of his ‘loyal’ associates while Connolly is increasingly under pressure to protect his friend. Connelly also has to be careful not to incriminate himself as he slides down the slippery slope to full tilt crook while, paradoxically, trying to balance his home life.

Black Mass runs slow. Despite its beautiful imagery and unconventional framing technique, the whole film runs flat. The obvious highlight is Depp, who is all-encompassing on screen; stealing all the scenes he’s in (which is most) but struggles to shrug weight of a lifeless film off his shoulders. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what is wrong, but the best bet is the narrative (which warbles on and leaves you disconnected) as well as characters you can’t invest in.

That isn’t to take away from some very clever and tense scenes, featuring moments of writing, acting brilliance and crafting that displays Whitey as a pure psychopath. However, for a film with over two hours of running time, it struggles to keep you guessing. Viewers simply wait for the inevitable lesson where we learn that crime doesn’t pay.

TLDR? If you want to watch a film set in Boston, about the Irish mob, with a star studded cast revolving around corrupt cops and criminals… watch The Departed.