Film Review: Gangster Squad

  At the height of his power, former professional boxer turned Jewish Mafia member Meyer "Mickey" Cohen moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in attempt to take the city for his own, started to set up shop on the West Coast with business in drug trafficking, extortion and brothels. In hopes to keep the City of Angels safe, an anonymous group of honest LAPD officers and detectives form a unit tasked with targetting Cohen's businesses and the gangster himself.

  The film originally was supposed to be released in September of 2012 but in wake of the Aurora Shooting in Colorado, the film and its trailer was pulled and pushed back at a later release date due to a scene in which several characters open fire inside a movie theatre. That scene was ultimately scrapped from the final cut. Featuring an ensemble cast and director Ruben Fleisher brought a film in what was supposed to be a nice ode to classic gangster films set in the 1940s and 1950s, instead turned out to be a slightly disappointing and cliched movie.

The ensemble cast which features quite a few talented Academy Award Winners/Nominees, young and old, were somewhat wasted. Rounding off the cast is Sean Penn who as usual gives a role that is nothing short of well done, with plenty of malice, anger and intimidation as the head of a powerful criminal organization. Starring opposite him as Sergeant O'Mara is Josh Brolin who once again shows off his versatility as an honest cop and loving husband who's sense of duty and concern for the safety of his city leads the squad
against a rising crime lord. Current It-Boy and Hollywood heartthrob Ryan Gosling plays a young Sergeant who is essentially O'Mara's right hand man of the team, proving once again that Gosling can more than well hold his own against veterans like Brolin and Penn. The always lovely Emma Stone plays Grace Faraday, Cohens' girlfriend but has won Wooters' (Gosling) heart. Emma is reunited with "Zombieland" director Ruben Fleisher and former on-screen love interest Ryan Gosling in their second movie together since "Crazy, Stupid, Love.". While she has shown that she can do serious and dramatic just as well as she can do comedy, it was disappointing to see her in what was nothing more than a simple 'damsel in distress'. Also in the cast is Oscar Nominated Nick Nolte as LAPD Chief William Parker, Anthony Mackie as Det. Rocky Washington, Giovanny Ribisi as Det. Conway Keeler, Michael Peña as Det.Navidad Ramirez and "X-files" alum Robert Patrick as Det. Max Kennard.

Despite being a disappointing film, there are still many set pieces and moments that make this an enjoyable movie. The shoot-outs and gun-play are fun scenes in which firearms are currently a touchy subject in news today. The ending battle between the squad and Cohen's men, the car chase in the second act and the shooting practice scene in which Kennard (Patrick) shows off his skill with a Colt Single Action Army on a beer can in mid-air are some of the highlight action sequences. Some of the softer moments are well done, for example a scene where O'Mara (Brolin) comforts a young boy who just lost his father and when a hit takes place on O'Maras' house late at night, whos pregnant wife is home alone amidst the gun fire.

While not as good as it was hoped to be, Gangster Squad is still a very watchable fun action crime film with great performances from a well rounded ensemble cast and great set pieces. Movie goers who want a fun friday night film with plenty of gun play and bullets would enjoy this. Those who were hoping for something deeper and more dramatic should just skip this and wait for what should be a very exciting year for films.