Gangster Squad

Some people have a real problem with gangster movies. They look at some of the “classics” through rose colored glasses and dismiss the new ones. The latest, Gangster Squad attacks the genre with a modern look and an incredibly stacked cast. Josh Brolin stars as a LA cop trying to combat the mob, who have taken control of the city. In an attempt to stop them, a police chief (Nick Nolte) recruits the cop to head a secret squad to hunt down the biggest criminal, Mickey Cohen, played by Sean Penn. The team Brolin’s character recruits are played by a who’s who of sought after Hollywood talent. (Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Michael Peña, Giovanni Ribisi and Robert Patrick) Each could star as a lead in most films, but Brolin’s performance shows he is the right choice.

The story is heavy on tommy gun fights and trips to swanky 50s era night clubs, but there is also a fair amount of comedy that gives relief in between stressful showdowns. Gosling’s turn as supporting man behind Brolin is not the actor’s best effort. Even his chemistry with Emma Stone, who plays the villain’s girlfriend and Gosling love interest, isn’t entirely there. After the two had such a strong bond on screen in Crazy, Stupid, Love the expectation was it would play out similarly here, but in the 1949 setting. That is not the case. Brolin’s troubled yet sympathetic cop is a stronger performance. It’s an interesting trait that he is written as still fighting from his World War II days and doesn’t know how to stop, but it’s pointed out too often. The audience got it the first time.

The plot is middle of the road, but not predictable. The gangster era clichés are there, but that’s because they work. The film’s lighting stands out as part of the production worth noting. That’s rare, but with so much of the film taking place at night, it’s needed. Sean Penn has such acclaim as an actor that his attachment to the project built a lot of hype. But the “good guys” prove to have better performances. The film lost most of its hype when Warner Bros. delayed its September release in order to change a scene after the Colorado movie theater shooting. Gangster Squad had originally depicted a scene where mobsters shot sub-machine guns at moviegoers through a theater screen. The replacement was a confrontation outside in Chinatown. The change seemingly doesn’t have much of an impact either positive or negative on the story.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.