Gangster Squad: Guns & Gangsters Ad Nauseum

Film

Gangster Squad

- 03/03/2013

Gangster Squad: Guns & Gangsters Ad Nauseum

Anthony MackieEmma Stone...
Action & AdventureCrime...
Ruben Fleischer
In 1 Cinema

reviewed by

Marija Loncarevic

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Gangster Squad: Guns & Gangsters Ad Nauseum

Gangster films have been around for a long time and coming up with an original twist to this already well-known genre is always difficult; sadly, such is the case in this, the latest addition to the influx of gangster films. Based on a 2008 series of articles written by Paul Liberman for the Los Angeles Times and shamelessly adapted to the screen by relatively inexperienced screenwriter, Will Beall, Gangster Squad does the genre no favours.

Directed by Zombieland‘s Ruben Fleischer, Gangster Squad does come off as pretty, stylish and generally very easy on the eye; but, that’s as far as the accolades go.

It’s 1949 Los Angeles and the entire city is operated by former boxer turned celebrity mob-king, Mickey Cohen (Penn). With the help of his faithful goons, Cohen’s got the entire City of Angels under his thumb, including cops, judges and other law-enforcement bodies. Seeking to shut down Cohen for good is Chief Parker (Nolte) of the LAPD, who is one of the very few that is not intimidated by the mobster.

He enlists an LAPD cop, Sgt. John O’Mara (Brolin) – who is driven by his own personal vengeance towards Cohen – to put together a small team of lawmen. The team is made up of Casanova-type, Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Gosling); veteran gunman, Max Kennard (Patrick) – along with his new working associate Officer Ramirez (Pena) – as well as tech-wiz Officer Keeler (Ribisi, and Officer Coleman Harris (Mackie).

Together, they set off to work undercover to destabilise and destroy Cohen’s empire; one that dabbles in gambling, prostitution and drugs.

Gangster Squad‘s biggest downfall is lack of originality and overall predictability. Heavily influenced by pretty much every other gangster film ever made, as opposed to the true story it’s trying to sell, you’ll get the feeling that you’ve seen it all before – probably many times over. The shootouts and fist fights are full of the expected blood and gore, but nothing really gets a chance to properly settle.

On the other hand, the glossy filter, and cinematography in general, is used to nice effect leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that this is all taking place in the late 1940’s. However, when it’s just about the aesthetics, without the substantial legwork needed to have the intended impact, it’s easy to disregard the beauty of the backdrop.

Not only does it boast a rather poor script, Gangster Squad‘s star-studded cast fails to deliver, too. Penn, who is at the centre of the story as the ruthless mobster, is guilty of some of the worst scenery-chewing in history – ‘over-the-top’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. Nolte dives into yet another generic, mindless role and the undercut romance between Gosling and Stone fails to build on the necessary chemistry. Brolin, on the other hand, is pretty solid the whole way through and he manages to be the driving force holding the film together.

Conventional, imitative and uninspiring, there is nothing that makes Gangster Squad work – apart from its shiny front, which wears out pretty darn quickly revealing an overly theatrical melodrama.