Gangster Squad
2/4
Starring: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Patrick, Michael Pena
Rated R for Strong Violence and Language
"Gangster Squad" acquired a certain degree of infamy after the Aurora tragedy because the trailer, which featured a shooting at a movie theater, was pulled and the film reshot to omit the scene. Frankly, that's the only thing worth mentioning about this film because, like many January releases, there's not much else to say about it.
Los Angeles, 1949. The City of Angels is ruled with an iron fist by Jewish gangster Mickey Cohen (Penn), who believes that ruling the city is his destiny. He has a judge who, for a fee, will free any of his cohorts, so he's essentially untouchable. The Chief of Police (Nolte) decides to fight fire with fire. He tells one of the few police officers with the guts to save a girl from being raped by one of Cohen's underlings, a man named Sgt. John O'Mara (Brolin) to round up a squad of officers to work outside the law to destroy Cohen's empire. They are: womanizer Jerry Wooters (Gosling), tough street cop Coleman Harris (Mackie), gunslinger Max Kennard (Patrick) and his protoge Navidad Ramirez (Pena) and techie Conway Keeler (Ribisi). All six of them band together to raise hell for Cohen by any means possible.
The film sounds a lot like "The Untouchables" because it is. There are enough similarities to call it a rip off, and sadly it's not even a very good one. The script is paper thin, the characters are, at best, stick figures, and there are times when the movie doesn't make a lot of sense.
The only actor in the film who is of any interest is Josh Brolin, mainly because he actually has something to work with. He's a fighter who, after the war ended, is left without a fight. His wife Connie (Mireille Enos) wants him to stop being a hero due in part to the fact that she is heavily pregnant. Ryan Gosling has nothing to do but throw a few weak one-liners and woo Mickey Cohen's squeeze Grace Farraday (Stone). Gosling and Stone have chemistry (as was proved in "Crazy, Stupid, Love"), but so little time is devoted to their relationship that I could care less about it. Sean Penn froths at the mouth, but he's given so little to say that he's not compelling. Penn seems to know that the script is crap and sleepwalks his way through the role. No one else has much screen time.
Director Ruben Fleischer gained a certain amount of fame for directing "Zombieland," a zombie movie that, while entertaining enough, made me want more of what it had. The same thing applies to "Gangster Squad." It's got the goods, but it feels empty. The film looks stylish, but Fleischer can't decide whether or not he wants it to be a love letter to 40's film noir or a live action comic book, and the result isn't as appetizing as it sounds.
There are things that work. Some of the action scenes are fun, and there are a few amusing one-liners. The squad's first outing, a bank robbery, is pretty funny as well. It's not a total waste of time, but it's better left for late-night TV.
Starring: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Patrick, Michael Pena
Rated R for Strong Violence and Language
"Gangster Squad" acquired a certain degree of infamy after the Aurora tragedy because the trailer, which featured a shooting at a movie theater, was pulled and the film reshot to omit the scene. Frankly, that's the only thing worth mentioning about this film because, like many January releases, there's not much else to say about it.
Los Angeles, 1949. The City of Angels is ruled with an iron fist by Jewish gangster Mickey Cohen (Penn), who believes that ruling the city is his destiny. He has a judge who, for a fee, will free any of his cohorts, so he's essentially untouchable. The Chief of Police (Nolte) decides to fight fire with fire. He tells one of the few police officers with the guts to save a girl from being raped by one of Cohen's underlings, a man named Sgt. John O'Mara (Brolin) to round up a squad of officers to work outside the law to destroy Cohen's empire. They are: womanizer Jerry Wooters (Gosling), tough street cop Coleman Harris (Mackie), gunslinger Max Kennard (Patrick) and his protoge Navidad Ramirez (Pena) and techie Conway Keeler (Ribisi). All six of them band together to raise hell for Cohen by any means possible.
The film sounds a lot like "The Untouchables" because it is. There are enough similarities to call it a rip off, and sadly it's not even a very good one. The script is paper thin, the characters are, at best, stick figures, and there are times when the movie doesn't make a lot of sense.
The only actor in the film who is of any interest is Josh Brolin, mainly because he actually has something to work with. He's a fighter who, after the war ended, is left without a fight. His wife Connie (Mireille Enos) wants him to stop being a hero due in part to the fact that she is heavily pregnant. Ryan Gosling has nothing to do but throw a few weak one-liners and woo Mickey Cohen's squeeze Grace Farraday (Stone). Gosling and Stone have chemistry (as was proved in "Crazy, Stupid, Love"), but so little time is devoted to their relationship that I could care less about it. Sean Penn froths at the mouth, but he's given so little to say that he's not compelling. Penn seems to know that the script is crap and sleepwalks his way through the role. No one else has much screen time.
Director Ruben Fleischer gained a certain amount of fame for directing "Zombieland," a zombie movie that, while entertaining enough, made me want more of what it had. The same thing applies to "Gangster Squad." It's got the goods, but it feels empty. The film looks stylish, but Fleischer can't decide whether or not he wants it to be a love letter to 40's film noir or a live action comic book, and the result isn't as appetizing as it sounds.
There are things that work. Some of the action scenes are fun, and there are a few amusing one-liners. The squad's first outing, a bank robbery, is pretty funny as well. It's not a total waste of time, but it's better left for late-night TV.
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