Dollars to donuts, there isn’t a single actor working today
who has the range of Johnny Depp. True, his work with Tim Burton may result in
people forgetting this pretty damn easily, but seriously think about it: Edward Scissorhands, Jack Sparrow, Ed Wood, Raoul Duke, Guy LaPointe; even after
seeing him in all these roles, I still find it difficult to believe that
they’re all done by the same guy. Hell, even when he’s in absolute dreck like
Mortdecai, he can still lose himself in a role. But, regardless of all of this,
there’s still that Burton stigma to deal with: The pale, depressed and
darkly-tinged loner, a role that has probably resulted in doing the both of
them more harm than good of late. It’s with all this in mind that I look at
today’s film, Depp’s latest foray into the world of American gangsters since
Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, with cautious optimism. Do we get another
character for the sizzle reel, or is it another stock (for Depp) performance
that will have audiences reeling from their seats in droves?
