[spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] Black Mass, The Departed  & The Art of Revision By Jacob Krueger [/spb_text_block] [divider type="thin" text="Go to top" full_width="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [blank_spacer height="30px" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] [spb_text_block title="TRANSCRIPT" pb_margin_bottom="no" pb_border_bottom="no" width="1/1" el_position="first last"] Today we're going to be looking at the new Johnny Depp movie, Black Mass. Now this is a really extraordinary true story, based on the life of Whitey Bulger, and featuring one of Johnny Depp's all time best performances. And we're going to be discussing some of its most compelling scenes and the elements that made them work in this podcast. And yet, at the same time, despite the power of Johnny Depp's and the supporting cast's stellar performances, there is something about Black Mass that just leaves you (or at least left me) a little hollow-- a little bit unsatisfied. So I also want to talk about what got in the way with Black Mass, and how you can learn from both its strengths and failures in your own screenwriting, particularly when it comes to revision. If you haven't seen Black Mass yet, please be aware that there are spoilers ahead. At the center of Black Mass is Jimmy “Whitey” Bulger, a psychotic gangster, played by Johnny Depp who is playing both sides, secretly betraying his mafia enemies as an FBI informant; at the same time he plays the FBI, by using his connections to run rampant in the world of organized crime. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it is. You’ve seen this story before, in a much more complicated form, in Martin Scorcese’s The Departed. In fact, Whitey Bulger was in many ways the inspiration for the Jack Nicholson character in The Departed. And despite Black Mass’s true-life story pedigree, well written script, and excellent direction and performances this poses a real challenge for the screenwriter. A question that many of us face at some point in the writing of our stories: What if it’s not good enough? What if it’s all been done before? So if that question’s got you paralyzed, don’t worry! There is a long history of this happening. And having a story related to one we’ve already seen doesn’t mean you’re doomed to failure. William Shakespeare stole all of his stories. Romeo and Juliet is actually just a different version of Pyramus and Thisbe. And Midsummer Night’s Dream is yet another totally different callback to the exact same source material! Hamlet is just an adaptation of The Ur Hamlet. His history plays are ripped directly from history. But in order to transcend the experience of someone having already seen this movie before, you have to have an extraordinarily strong take on the material-- a take that is different from the take of the previous writers. And you have to master the art of revision, so you can build around your unique version of the story in a way that distinguishes your work from all the stuff that came before. For example, when Brokeback Mountain first came out, this was the first time we'd ever seen a “gay cowboy” movie. And the truth of the matter is just hearing the words “gay cowboys” was enough to make you go see, or not go see, Brokeback Mountain. In order to fulfill the promise of its premise, all that Brokeback Mountain needed to deliver was the story of two cowboys whose love for each other couldn’t fit the expectations of their circumstances. A couple of years later, another movie called The Kids Are Alright came out. And in many ways The Kids Are Alright is just another “gay cowboys” movie. Except in this case the “cowboys” are two suburban moms, trying to navigate their love for each other among the challenges and expectations of their own suburban “home on the range.” Before Brokeback Mountain had come out, this might have been enough.