Hostiles Tries To Be A Woke Western But It Can't Quite Get It's Eyes Open

I've been beating the drum on director Scott Cooper for some time now, mainly thanks to how highly I thought of his 2013 feature Out of The Furnace (his 2009 motion picture Crazy Heart is also notably good). Thought it received an overall divisive critical reception upon initial release, I myself thought it was a great movie that managed to take the basic premise of a revenge action movie and imbue both a terrific Christian Bale performance and thoughtful grimness into it. Taking my love for his past works in mind, it breaks my heart to say that Scott Cooper's newest movie Hostiles, handily his most ambitious feature yet in terms of themes and scope, is a mess and an unpleasant one at that.

Black Mass Review

Johnny Depp has always had a knack for making the outsiders accessible, for twisting the unconventional into the lovable. While his unorthodox protagonist shtick became tired by the time his racially discomforting turn as Tonto came around, characters like Jack Sparrow and Rango were entities that provided immense amounts of humor and enjoyment. What's really surprising in his turn as Whitey Bulger in Black Mass is how much it rails against those sort of characters Depp has played in the past; Bulger is idiosyncratic, no question, but he ain't lovable. He's not even a tragic character who becomes heinous during the story like Sweeney Todd.

Johnny Depp Gets Dramatic And Intimidating In Black Mass Trailer

Let's not kid ourselves here; Johnny Depp has had a helluva few years, with duds like Transcendence and Mortdecai tarnishing his reputation. But director Scott Cooper (responsible for two dramas I consider quite underrated, Crazy Heart and Out of The Furnace) is handling his newest film, Black Mass, where Depp plays Whitey Bulger. It's a unique role, one that goes for a much more dramatic approach than Depps past films. Give the first trailer for the film, which comes courtesy of Rope of Silicon, a watch, and then catch my thoughts on the footage beneath that.