‘Gangster Squad’ overdramatized, nonsensical
After watching “Gangster Squad,” you’d have to wonder: Were gangsters really this gangster back in the day? It may be 1949, and gangsters may have been running amok, but damn, the craziness portrayed in this costume party of a movie borders on “Kill Bill” status.
“Gangster Squad,” directed by Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland”), seeks to weave a film noir haze through a gory gunfight for the future of Los Angeles’ soul. It manages only the last of these traits, somehow portraying Southern California as more violent than it already is. You have to give the man credit, though: You know what they say about a sharp-dressed man. And the femme-fatale dresses snugly worn add a great deal of visual pleasure, if you will.
But fedoras, zoot suits, fire engine-red dresses and pretty people to wear them only go so far when you’re surrounded by stilted dialogue and a lackluster story.
The script by Will Beall takes a moment in time — Mickey Cohen’s role in L.A.’s gangster scene in the ‘40s — and blows it and any historical context connected to it out of the realm of possibility. Yes, Cohen was important in the wire race and was known for his violent temper. No, he was not (as portrayed by Sean Penn) the next gangster king of the City of Angels with an iron grip on everyone and everything. Dramatic licensing is fine, but it’s another thing when you decide to make an episode of “NCIS.”
The idea here was to create a hyper-masculine version of the real-life Gangster Squad. In the movie, the group is led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin), the basic straight arrow archetype with the nervous wife (Mireille Enos) and kid on the way. Charged with disrupting Cohen’s operations by “any means necessary” by the police commissioner (Nick Nolte), O’Mara hobbles together a band of misfits “The Breakfast Club” would be envious of: Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), a womanizer with the heart of gold and an eye for the stunning Grace Faraday (Emma Stone), who happens to be Cohen’s moll but falling hard for the smooth-talking Wooters; the wizened gun-slinger (Robert Patrick) who incessantly dispenses nuggets of wisdom; his sidekick in law (Michael Pena), whose only noteworthy feature happens to be his Mexican ancestry; the token black detective (Anthony Mackie); and the nerd (Giovanni Ribisi), who provides more actual intelligence than the rest combined.
But again, the point here isn’t to wipe out the infesting corruption breeding throughout the city, or even to lessen the burden of gangs. It’s much more simple than that: shoot first, ask later. Yes, the squad was tasked with committing extra-legal acts against a man who had not been charged with a crime or served with a warrant. But the chaos that ensues in this guerrilla campaign — involving casino takedowns and burnt piles of money — is simply noise.
And a familiar noise at that. You’ve seen this movie. You know this plot. You want to be impressed with the stylish take on the legendarily corrupt Los Angeles during its seedy past. You want Fleischer to get as dirty as the era he’s trying to recreate. But amid all the action and gun fights and fist brawls and one-liner sparring, it’s hard to appreciate what little success there was.
Two gangster stars out of five.
Silver Screening Reviews 