Excellent movie. The acting was incredible (Depp easily should've won the Oscar for Best Actor). the visual style was extremely effective at communicating the message they were trying to get across showing you exactly what they wanted especially when it came to the really tense moments. I guess you would mainly classify this as a drama but the tension they were able to create was greater than any thriller that I can remember. In terms of the pacing I think it was one of the weaker points but I don't think it was bad at all especially considering that it was done to stay true to the real story and I can't fault them for trying to be accurate. the action wasn't in long, highly choreographed sequences but instead took a more realistic and ultimately more terrifying quick gun and done approach. They would pull out a gun, shoot who needed to be shot, get back in their car and then it was done. This while not being as exciting to some really made the movie feel more like a true reenactment rather than an artistic interpretation. Something else that I think needs to be said that I don't think is a bad thing but I think a lot of people won't like is that there really isn't a main character that you root for, maybe you root for Kevin Bacon or the newer Prosecutor but they are only in small bits of the film. It's impossible to root for Bulger or Connolly who take up the vast majority of screen time. It makes sense considering how much they wanted to show and what aspects they were showing but I do think some people might have a problem with that.
Review by SeanMSUBlockedParent2016-06-18T02:44:31Z
Excellent movie. The acting was incredible (Depp easily should've won the Oscar for Best Actor). the visual style was extremely effective at communicating the message they were trying to get across showing you exactly what they wanted especially when it came to the really tense moments. I guess you would mainly classify this as a drama but the tension they were able to create was greater than any thriller that I can remember. In terms of the pacing I think it was one of the weaker points but I don't think it was bad at all especially considering that it was done to stay true to the real story and I can't fault them for trying to be accurate. the action wasn't in long, highly choreographed sequences but instead took a more realistic and ultimately more terrifying quick gun and done approach. They would pull out a gun, shoot who needed to be shot, get back in their car and then it was done. This while not being as exciting to some really made the movie feel more like a true reenactment rather than an artistic interpretation. Something else that I think needs to be said that I don't think is a bad thing but I think a lot of people won't like is that there really isn't a main character that you root for, maybe you root for Kevin Bacon or the newer Prosecutor but they are only in small bits of the film. It's impossible to root for Bulger or Connolly who take up the vast majority of screen time. It makes sense considering how much they wanted to show and what aspects they were showing but I do think some people might have a problem with that.