“If anyone makes this movie, I’m pleased it’s these two. They’re brilliant,’’ said Tommy Donahue, whose father was allegedly killed by Bulger and his henchmen. “But I definitely have mixed emotions about this. Hopefully they can depict Whitey Bulger for what he is. They’ll need to do their homework, though.’’
How Bulger might be portrayed onscreen - Damon has indicated he wants the role - concerns attorney Anthony Cardinale as well. Bulger has been charged with 19 slayings, many shockingly brutal.
“If it’s done honestly, [Damon] will look like an idiot, a treacherous piece of junk. It’ll be a bad career move for him,’’ said Cardinale, who represented Francis “Cadillac Frank’’ Salemme, then the New England Mafia boss, in a case that helped expose Bulger’s corrupt ties with the FBI.
If not done accurately, Cardinale added, “it’s a worse career move.’’
Bulger’s arrest in June and pending trial may yield even more details of gruesome killings and FBI corruption, heightening interest in any dramatization of the mobster’s life and crimes. But along with the interest come questions about how key pieces of the story might be treated or left out.
On the one hand, there is widespread praise for Affleck and Damon as homegrown stars who have never abandoned their roots.
“As a Bostonian, I’m proud of them,’’ said defense attorney Joseph Oteri, a longtime Bulger family friend.
His primary concern is whether their film does “a hatchet job’’ on William Bulger, the former Massachusetts Senate president who is the gangster’s brother, and not how it treats Whitey. “Southie is a state of mind, not a place,’’ Oteri said, and Affleck and Damon “know how to capture that mentality.’’
On the other hand, there is worry that a big-budget production built around Damon and Affleck might romanticize Bulger and his gang, or even turn Bulger himself into a sympathetic figure, no matter how dark the film is.
READER COMMENTS »
View reader comments » Comment on this story »