1 of My Stories

Black Mass is an action-packed crime drama with a bleak and disturbing tone. It tells the true story of Whitey Bulger, a violent criminal living in South Boston, who was a local criminal until he became an FBI informant. He was the brother of a state senator and the childhood friend of a local rising FBI agent, who talks him into making a deal. As an informant, he gave the FBI leads on local mafia in exchange for his protected status. He was then able to commit crimes on a more national scale and rise to power. Eventually, his deeds caught up to him, but by then, he had escaped and wasn't found until much, much later in life.

The narrative of the film is constructed by showing all of Whitey's former employees sharing their testimonies with the FBI and admitting what they had done under his leadership. We don't know exactly what influenced them to do this, but it is alluded to in their stories. We are left to consider why this or that employee might have decided to testify…

Mr. Holmes is a leisurely-paced re-imagining of a later in life Sherlock Holmes. Sir Ian McKellan plays Sherlock Holmes as he might be as an old man, long after 221B Baker, long after John Watson is his bosom compadre. Sherlock is getting older and beginning to show signs of dementia. His ability to read people out of the minutiae that others miss seems to still be intact, though.

In this imaginary literary universe, his older age begins to soften him and he seems to regret some of his past interactions. He befriends a young companion over honeybee-tending. This movie was entertaining enough. The pacing and tone was a little uneven. There is a solve-a-mystery subplot that seems almost like an homage to Vertigo with a suspenseful tone. For the most part, though, the story remains calmly plods through this peek into a would-be Sherlock universe. The film would be most enjoyed by Sherlock Holmes fans and lovers of all things British. The most enjoyable moments for me were the inferences …