Review: Gangster Squad

Gangster Squad (2013)

The Fellowship of the Crime Ring 

Released: 10 January

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone

Plot: Los Angeles, 1949. Mickey Cohen (Penn)’s reach stretches everywhere – even within the law. Realising that the only way to lock him up is operating outside it, Sgt. John O’Mara (Brolin) sets up the ‘Gangster Squad’, a team of men willing to play Cohen at his own game.

RUBEN Fleischer’s last outing, 30 Minutes or Less, was widely ignored having been overshadowed by its funnier older brother, the highly marketable spin on a popular and successful genre, Zombieland. Melting violence and humour together delicately yet enjoyably, It was the closest the US had ever come to replicating the refreshing thread of comedy famously portrayed by Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead.

Gangster Squad almost nails this. It builds upon the basis of The Untouchables, but never quite rises to the same heights – no Oscars for best supporting role here. That said, the ensemble here – the Gangster Squad – bounce off one another nicely.

The main strengths here though, are Brolin and Penn. The former is the strong headed, brave, equally-as-moral-as-tough Costner- stand in, while Sean Penn is more stand out than stand in. Boasting far more character than screen time (sadly), he drives the film as a viciously ambitious Mickey Cohen, who locks his associates in lift shafts then burns the building to the ground, chains a man to two separate cars (wild-west style, minus the horses) and orders them to drive apart, or makes literal use of the phrase ‘you know the drill’. Never has Cohen been portrayed with such attention to detail and a fearsome on screen presence.

Elsewhere, the supporting cast carry the drama at a favourable pace, never slowing, but also never faltering. There is a good story to be told, and it wraps up without leaving the audience feel short-changed. Fleischer knows how to pay cast members the attention they are due, especially considering the sheer size of it here, and saddles each character with a selling point. That considered though, the running time doesn’t allow for deep enough character exploration beyond Brolin, Penn and Gosling, but, frankly, most will be content with this.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are given a chance to replicate their romantic chemistry seen before – one or two of their moments feel like Crazy, Stupid, Love’s deleted scenes – though both are good performances standing firmly on their own merits, albeit their status as tokens for a more general market. A very trebly Gosling is ideal as smart, ladies man (though fictional) Jerry Wooters, who goes to show, in a shooting outside a restaurant, that he is willing to punish a bad guy accordingly:

“You won’t shoot me, you’re a cop!”

To which he replies, “Not any more.”

Other characters are purely a product of their casting, for example Nick Nolte must have been first call as the Police Chief determined to prise LA from Cohen’s grasp, or Giovanni Ribisi as the nervy but good- willed eyes and ears of the operation. They are all of course, simply good guys willing to do some bad to pull a city through a corrupt epoch.

In terms of directing, narrative and performance, Gangster Squad is a decent movie. It may not be as consistently rich in character as The Untouchables or as sophisticated as LA Confidential, but it certainly throws enough punches and covers enough ground to warrant recognition as a great gangster flick.

Verdict: Gangster Squad is the ideal weekend movie, championing brawn over brain whilst being gutsy and unafraid to expose post- WWII LA with unsubtle honesty. It pulls a Tommy gun trigger and doesn’t let go until the drum empties. ★★★★