Gangster Squad (2013)
Certified: 18
Duration: 113 minutes
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, Robert Patrick, Josh Pence, Frank Grillo, Mireille Enos
KRS release
Gangster Squad can be described as a cross between the hard-core grittiness of LA Confidential (1997), the entertainment of The Untouchables (1987), the hardiness of Scarface (1983) and the noir comics of Dick Tracy (1990).
The result is an enjoyable, slick, colourful, violent, pulp noir that is quite a romp.
Ruben Fleisher’s film is an adaptation of/inspired by Paul Lieberman’s articles on the Los Angeles Times that focused on an LAPD unit that targeted and pressured the mob and the criminal underworld in the 1940s and 1950s.
Josh Brolin plays John O’Mara, a war veteran who is as incorruptible as they come. He is soon at loggerheads with Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), a crime boss from Brooklyn who is starting to make a name in Los Angeles.
O’Mara puts together a squad with his same die-hard attitude to get rid of Cohen. They are not afraid to bend the rules in order to bring the criminal down.
The group includes the cool and slick Sgt Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), hi-tech guy Officer Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi) and the sizzling Grace Faraday (Emma Stone), who seems to have jumped out of a Mickey Spillane novel.
Gangster Squad’s first obvious selling point is its impeccable cast members. They have immersed themselves into this dark crime world and coated themselves in its glamorous look.
The cinematic sparks between Gosling and Stone, who had clicked so well in Crazy, Stupid Love (2011), are very much in evidence.
Brolin is as tough as they come and he seems to be taking on the Nick Nolte look quite seriously. Penn is terrific as Cohen, the criminal overlord who gives the movie its dark edge. He knows he is playing his role in an over-the-top manner and embraces this with unhidden glee.
The mob boss lives up to all the stereotypes of the genre, spewing out one line after another and walking a fine line between tough and comical.
The action scenes are a mix between what is usually expected from gangster movies and modern action sensibilities.
With a colour palette reminiscent of Golden Age-style Hollywood, Gangster Squad is relentless in its thrust; this is not a historical look at 1950s crime – it is a stylised version that walks the talk with all the fervent energy that it can muster.