Gangster Squad proves to be a fairly enjoyable film that’s light on drama, but heavy on the action.
The gangster action film Gangster Squad was a good fit with not that much action. Photo from Google Images.
Los Angeles, California 1949.
A vast cesspool full of glitz and glamor, crooked cops, beautiful vistas, and criminals a-plenty. Among many small time gangs and infinitesimal syndicates, one-man reigns free, former boxer Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn, The Tree of Life). Cohen practically owns the city of Los Angeles, and is soon to gain even more power through the simplicity of telephone service. Anyone who could stop him is either paid off, or too fearful of the repercussions to follow. However, Chief Parker (Nick Nolte, Warrior) has had it with this criminal regime and enlists Sargent John O’Mara (Josh Brolin, Men in Black 3) to put together an elite crew of honor-less cops to take Cohen down once and for all.
Gangster Squad was a very entertaining venture. It has an interesting story (allegedly inspired by true events) and a great setup for the fun shoot-em-up action the film contains. Nevertheless, the film should have stuck to one tone and kept it for its entirety. Every now and then, the movie tries to bring things into a serious note, and this is when it’s not at its best. I never really grew to care too much about the characters, and therefore wasn’t really invested in their lives when something bad happened to them. Other than that, Gangster Squad was chock full of cool, stylized action and even some witty humor.
I always respect a film that attempts to recreate a time period, and I feel that Gangster Squad did an exceptional job in that regard. The movie really played off of the cliché’s of late 1940s L.A. There were fun nightclubs, nearly everyone smoked, and crime was rampant. Among all this fun and chaos, Mickey Cohen ran a cohesive crime syndicate. He had a piece of everything: casinos, drugs, clubs, you name it. With such a powerful gangster, L.A. was in desperate need of an even more powerful squad, and that’s where John O’Mara and his group come in.
The Gangster Squad (as they aptly named themselves) was full of personality, and each squad member had a distinct role to fill. There was Sgt. John O’Mara, (the leader of course) and Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March) (the second in command, and most personable of the bunch). After those two comes the muscle of the group. The gun-slinging cowboy Officer Max Kennard, (Robert Patrick, Safe House) and the bad-to-the-bone beat cop Officer Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter). The final two members were Officer Conway Keeler, (Giovanni Ribisi, Ted) (the brains of the bunch) and the rookie of sorts, Officer Navidad Ramirez (Michael Peña, End of Watch). These six men comprised the Gangster Squad, and all were well-acted and fun to watch. Brolin, Gosling, Peña, and Patrick were the standouts, leaving Mackie and Ribisi just average.
On the other hand, the leading ladies and the villain weren’t very well captured. Sgt. John O’Mara’s pregnant wife, Connie O’Mara, (Mireille Enos, The Killing TV series) was fairly entertaining, but that’s about it. The character of Grace Faraday (Emma Stone, The Amazing Spider-Man) was just there, and didn’t really contribute anything important to the film (other than eye candy) until the very end. I don’t know what the real Mickey Cohen was like, but the one portrayed by Penn wasn’t all that interesting. I would think that a man of this social standing would be intelligent. This was not the case in Gangster Squad. All Penn really did the entire movie was throw temper tantrums and order people to be gruesomely murdered. This is not what I expected from a criminal who nearly ran the city, and that makes Cohen fail amongst the incredible movie villains of today.
Gangster Squad was not a perfect movie; however, it was a great way to spend an evening. The tone was inconsistent and some of the acting wasn’t up to snuff, but the action and atmosphere was top notch. Don’t expect a tour de force when watching Gangster Squad, and just accept the film for the simple fun it has to offer. Anyone who does this will most likely be in for a good time. Be warned, however, there is a bit of adult language and graphic violence in this movie.
Rating: ★★★★
