"Gangster Squad"
written by Will Beall
directed by Ruben Fleischer
Starring Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone
Rated R
113 Minutes
written by Will Beall
directed by Ruben Fleischer
Starring Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone
Rated R
113 Minutes
A movie called
“Gangster Squad” requires realistic expectations, to say the least. This
film is pure pulp and glossy style, offering almost nothing in the way of
substance; but I believe it is also precisely the movie Ruben Fleischer
intended to make. Those expecting the seedy, complex noir of “L.A.
Confidential” won’t find it here, but if you are seeking out a stylized take on
classic gangsters and cops, duking it out with tommy guns, you could do far
worse.
“Gangster
Squad” opens with one of those cockamamie ‘inspired by true events’ title
cards. Sure, Los Angeles was a real place in 1949, and Mickey Cohen
was a real gangster, but that is the extent of any truth. The
screenplay by Will Beall mostly tosses aside actual history in favor of a
narrative that seems to exist in an alternate reality. In this
reality, Mickey Cohen is a ferocious hothead, waiting to explode at the
slightest agitation. Sean Penn plays him as an egotistical maniac,
but his scene chewing is spot-on for the tone Fleischer is aiming
for. Nick Nolte plays Police Chief Parker, infamous for his
strong-armed approach to cleaning up corruption in the city. Here he
enlists Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) to recruit a rogue unit of off the books
police officers to start hitting Cohen’s rackets in an effort to drive him out
of town.
The cast is a
serviceable bunch of recognizable stars, but uniformly
under-developed. That’s okay in a picture like this because it is
gleefully about style over substance and it requires good looking
men. Replace any of these talented actors, and you’re left with a
made for t.v. snoozer. Ryan Gosling is a dedicated Sgt. named Jerry
Wooters; he initially resists the offer to go after Cohen, but once he snags
Cohen’s leading lady Grace Faraday (Emma Stone), he has good reason to get
invested. The team is rounded out by Michael Pena, Robert Patrick,
Anthony Mackie and Giovanni Ribisi; each one with a specific generic trait to
lend to the team. One nice touch is Sgt. O’Mara’s wife, played by
Mireille Enos in a role that at first seems like the clichéd stay-at-home
concerned wife. Sure, she’s pregnant, but she can hold her own and
after she puts in her two cents, she insists on helping her husband select his
team so that she knows he has good men to back him up.
The action is
generally well-staged and while the film underwent some re-shoots for widely
publiscized reasons, nothing about them feels jarring or
disjointed. The cinematography by Dion Beebe is warm and glamorous,
easily providing a visual style to match the film’s vibrant mood. In
fact, the most enjoyable aspect of “Gangster Squad” is that it doesn’t pretend
to be a more substantial film, but embraces its look and simple narrative
enough to live up to its title. Not every gangster-era movie needs
to aspire to greatness, and since “L.A. Confidential” set an insurmountable bar
anyway, why bother? Keep in mind too that "L.A. Confidential" also told a largely fictional story; albeit with a bit more grounded approach.
I can see why
“Gangster Squad” would underwhelm critics and audiences, but it provides an
even better experience than the trailers would suggest. This is a solid
entertainment that requires purposefully lowered expectations. After all,
you can’t go see something called “Gangster Squad” and expect an Oscar
contender.
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