Review by John Delia
Taken from over a decade of headlines, the taut documentary “Whitey:United States of America v. James J. Bulger†puts one of America’s top most wanted men and the FBI under the microscope. The film delves into one of Boston’s most iconic murderers and extortionists that held the city in terror. Not since the Boston strangler in the 1970’s has a man been most feared. This hard line news event puts the audience in judgment of the crimes and those who protected the criminal.
James ‘Whitey’ Bulger was a small time hood who wanted to be as feared as the mafia. In time he rose to prominence and actually got recognition from a mafia head that saw him as a useful pawn for his crime organization. But, let’s not get ahead of the story as Bulger engineered his way into Boston by terrorizing small businesses with his gang for nearly 15 years before taking flight to avoid arrest.
It was during this reign of organized crime that he was also an informant for the FBI who turned a blind eye to Bulger’s misdeeds in order to land bigger fish. That brings us to Special FBI Agent John Connelly who would tell Bulger when the bureau was closing in on him for his help. As a snitch, Connely pulled enough information from Bulger to help in the arrest of the Italian Patriarca crime family heads. Bugler continued his ways with his Winter Hill Gang that included Kevin Weeks, John Martorano and Stephen Flemmi and were responsible for 19 murders, money laundering, extortion and drug dealing.
The film puts together all the pieces from his extortion of a liquor store to his many other crimes that threatened the safety of Boston. Director and filmmaker Joe Berlinger takes his audience into an in-depth account of Bulger’s life, crimes, and trial, including the FBI’s involvement and his hiding for nearly 2 decades with his girlfriend Catherine Greig. He holds nothing back even the accusations about FBI conspirator Connelly and the outcry by relatives of Bulger’s murder victims.
The film is sometimes interesting and compelling, but regarding the full movie content it’s not more than an informational account of the crimes and trial,. If you are a crime film addict or just haven’t been up to date on the news, then this film surly has something for you. For me, it’s like watching cable television with Investigation Discovery, Biography or even the History Channel where you’ll find stories of most high profile criminals and their crimes.
Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger has been rated R by the MPAA for language and some crime scene images. Most all of the old television and crime scene footage is somewhat frayed, but still distinguishable. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for adolescents.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A well presented documentary that gets compelling at times. (C )
Additional Film Information:
- Cast: Stephen Rakes, James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, Tommy Donahue
- Directed by: Joe Berlinger
- Genre: Documentary, Biography, Crime
- MPAA Rating: R for language and some crime scene images
- Running Time: 1 hr 47 min
- Release Date: July 4, 2014
- Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures