Set in 1940s post-World War II Los Angeles, when patriotism was at an all-time high and veterans were struggling to find ways to live, Gangster Squad (loosely tied to true events) depicts a police squad attempting to drive out a mobster and and his gang from their hometown. Despite many shortcomings and an imbalance between the quality of the script and prestige of the actors, director Ruben Fleisher still found a way to make Gangster Squad an exciting and fun film to enjoy.
The year is 1949. The terrifying Chicagoan mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) made his way to Los Angeles to build up his realm and take over the city. Kicking off the movie by showing Cohen’s strong and fearful power by quite literally ripping someone him in half, the L.A.P.D. Chief Parker (Nick Nolte, who’s voice is as gruff as ever) decides to build a squad to drive Cohen out of L.A. He assigns Sergeant John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) to recruit and lead the “gangster squad,” to not kill members of Cohen’s gang, but to destroy their operations so terribly, they leave L.A. forever. O’Mara puts together a band of misfits – Sergeant Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) and Detectives Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie), Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi), Navidad Ramirez (Michael Pena), and Max Kennard (Robert Patrick). The rest of the film, the squad violently and excitingly, through trial-and-error, attempts to drive Cohen and his team out of L.A.
Emma Stone plays Grace Faraday, Cohen’s “etiquette teacher” and mistress. While Stone and Gosling did have great chemistry in Crazy, Stupid, Love, when romance ensues between their two characters in Gangster Squad, it comes off completely overdone and forced. Additionally, Stone’s 21st century acting and mannerisms stuck out like a sore thumb in the post-WWII setting. Despite the problems with Gosling and Stone, Penn’s portray of Cohen is completely unlike any other character he’s played in the past, and it was exhilarating and terrifying to witness another superb performance by Penn in such a criminal role. Brolin gave a sub-par and somewhat emotionless performance, despite the depth to his WWII-veteran character I didn’t anticipate.
The many violent and mediocre CGI action scenes were a bit overdone, not to mention graphic scenes (if you’re squirmish with violence, prepare yourself). The writing was filled with corn every now and again, and the prestige of the actors is a little above the quality of the script overall. Still, despite the sometimes unrealistic action sequences, and the fact that the script didn’t give the actors much to bite off, Gangster Squad has action, humor, (not the best) romance, family scenes, and if taken lightheartedly, gives a “fun time at the movies” vibe. The period setting, costumes, and props were very accurate, and will truly make you feel you’ve been taken back in time to post-war America.
While there are a plethora of superb American mobster films to compare, I don’t believe that Gangster Squad was created to compete with any of them. Fleisher made an equal balance of right and wrong decisions, and if taken lightheartedly, the Gangster Squad is enjoyable and a fun time at the movies, but it won’t be remembered fifteen years from now.
Grade: B-
Rated: R (for strong violence and language)
Gangster Squad opens in theaters on January 11, 2013.
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