Even by the alarmist
standards of many product warnings, the
labels on the backs of the football helmets are bracingly blunt: «No helmet system can protect you from
serious brain and / or neck injuries including paralysis or death.
While A.O. Scott of The New York Times described the film as «solid but
standard» outside the theater after the press screening, Variety hailed Depp's «mesmerizing performance» in a «sober, sprawling, deeply engrossing evocation of Bulger's South Boston fiefdom,»
labeling the film «one of the fall's first
serious, awards - caliber attractions.»