Movie Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

 

Gangster Squad (2013)

A Movie Review by Dave Randal 

Genre: Action | Crime | Drama

Cast: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Writers: Will Beall, Paul Lieberman(book)

Studios: Village Roadshow Pictures

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: January 11, 2013

Plot: Los Angeles, 1949: A secret crew of police officers led by two determined sergeants work together in an effort to take down the ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen who runs the city.

Gangster movies are one of my favorite genres.  There is just something about them that I really like.  This might make me look like a total geek but screw it, I even like the Star Trek episode "A Piece of the Action" where they go to a planet with Earth-like 1920s gangster culture. When I first saw the trailer for Gangster Squad I instantly got excited.  I mean it has three of the best actors working today in Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, and Ryan Gosling.  I think because of who was in it I was expecting a little bit more from it than what I saw.

The movie is based in 1949 and is about a secret crew of police officers led by Sgt. John O'Mara played by Josh Brolin.  Their mission is to take down a ruthless mob kingpin Mickey Cohen, played by Sean Penn, who has come from Chicago to Los Angeles and taken the city over.  The movie was inspired by the real life "Hat Squad" which was a group of LAPD detectives led by Max Herman.

The movie is very stylized in a nostalgic 1940s way.  I really liked that although I think the filmmakers paid a bit more attention to that aspect then they did to the story.  The movie has a lot of cliches that we have seen in a lot of other gangster movies.  Personally I don't really mind that too much, but I did find it a little disappointing that they were pretty lazy when it came to the script.

Josh Brolin as the leader of the squad does a pretty good job, but I wouldn't say that he gave a performance of a lifetime.  He does as good of a job as what you would expect from such a good actor, but he certainty doesn't exceed any expectations.  Ryan Gosling is alright too and his character even has a somewhat interesting sub-plot where he is having an affair with Mickey Cohen's girlfriend Grace Faraday, played by Emma Stone.  That sub-plot is kind of what I mean when I say this movie had quite a few cliches.  We have seen that plot in a ton of other movies.  Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen is decent although I don't think everyone will be impressed with his performance.  His character has a very cartoonish quality to it and although I though it was alright I can see why some people just think it is ridiculous.

At the end of the day I enjoyed the movie for what it is, a nostalgic stylized 1940s gangster movie.  It really is nothing less and nothing more.  Sure I was expecting a bit more from the script, but overall I thought it was a decent enough movie.  I think a lot of people were also expecting more from it and I think that has caused this movie to be somewhat underrated.  The movie is kind of mediocre and will most likely not be very well remembered, but I personally had a good enough time with it.

Dave Randal's Rating- Thumbs Up
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