I feel like Gangster Squad was doomed from the beginning. It's a period piece that I, personally, don't think is meant to be taken extremely serious. But, it's going to be compared to the likes of L.A. Confidential and The Untouchables. It also was made very closely to another period piece that was taken seriously and was, in fact, a much better movie, Lawless. Then, unfortunately, the Aurora movie theater shootings happened, sending this film back into production to remove a scene in which gangsters ambush police by shooting up a movie theater. There's really no coming back from that. Now, whose to say it would've resonated better had fuckwit mcgee not killed some people in a theater. If Gangster Squad had come out in September like it was originally scheduled to do, would it have been looked at as less serious and more of a popcorn-flick? Who knows. The cast is so theoretically great that there's almost no way expectations wouldn't be high.
Gangster Squad tells the (somewhat) true (but probably not) story of the Los Angeles Police Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) covertly putting together a team led by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to take down notorious L.A. gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). O'Mara leads a team of caricatures, not cops. You've got the cute, but tough one (Ryan Gosling), the one that throws knives (Anthony Mackie), the gunslinger (Robert Patrick), the smart one (Giovanni Ribisi) and the Mexican dude (Michael Pena). The fact that director Ruben Fleischer was able to pull together such raw talent for a single movie, with a lackluster script is impressive all on its own. And, most of these actors really do attempt their best with what they've been given, but it's difficult to make an impression when there's not much to work with. Emma Stone is also in the film, but there's not much of a reason for it except to give Gosling a little bit more to do. (Get it?)
What worked in Gangster Squad: The characters, first off. Even if the script is clunky and leaves more to be desired, when you put a group of fine actors together, there's still going to be fun. Robert Patrick nearly steals the show with every moment of screen time he's given. Anthony Mackie is always damn watchable. And Ribisi will never let you down. Secondly, the violence. There's some pretty gnarly violence in this film. Mickey Cohen is no softie. You will be reminded of this several times throughout. I mean, in the first two minutes of the film a man is ripped in half by being tied to two cars speeding off in opposite directions. There's dozens of shootings, stabbings, even a power drill to the head. The ultraviolence really seems to lend to the fact that maybe this was supposed to be more of a summer release popcorn flick. Third, the humor. The script wasn't very delicately written with each character fleshed out and properly given a chance at inner growth, but the banter plays. Some of the conversations these guys have, in the midst of all the violence, is really quite witty and lends a bit of a relief before more stressful situations arise. That's the one thing I can applaud screenwriter Will Beall for is his knack for wit.
What didn't work in Gangster Squad: pretty much everything else. While the movie definitely had the look of the 40s and 50s, it was just a little too glossy and pretty and 2012 to be believable. When watching a movie like L.A. Confidential, you're sucked into that time period and you completely believe everyone else is there too. But, because Gangster Squad relies a little bit too much on 2012 film conventions, you're aware you're watching a movie. It's like one of those shows on Discovery where it's very clear it's a reenactment. Josh Brolin, who actually is very likable in the film, is still very hollow and stiff. And while that's fitting for his character... it never changes. He stays hollow and stiff, plagued by memories of the war, unable to give up honor and justice, even when his wife is shot at. He can't let it go... and he never does. He stays the same the entire film... like every character in the film. I didn't see a single person arc at all except possibly Gosling, but I still don't actually know.
Now, I know I'm going to get in a little bit of trouble for saying this but I think Ryan Gosling was the wrong choice for this film. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I think he's a fantastic actor whose proven himself time and time again, but... he's just not right in this movie. While he's incredibly watchable, he just seems to be floating through each of his scenes. Every line of dialogue spoken by Gosling seems as though he's just woken up from a nap, throws a little olden-days accent to his lines, speaks them, and goes back to sleep. I can't blame the guy... with a script like this. And it's true, most of what doesn't work about Gangster Squad can be attributed to the writing. It's set up like every other gangster picture you've seen before, but it's like it knows its not original. There's a shoot-out on a large stair case a la The Untouchables. There's the montage of "putting the team together" a la every heist movie you've ever seen. There's even a scene where Brolin and Gosling sit outside Brolin's bullet-hole riddled house at Christmastime that looks identical to Lethal Weapon. But what those movies succeed in doing that this one does not is after putting together a team, they successfully enact a plan. There is no plan here. They somewhat put together a plan, then when arriving at the destination basically say fuck it, pull out their guns and smash shit. Nothing ever goes right and each time the squad barely escapes alive. They're supposed to have thrown their badges away because when they're taking down Cohen's crime syndicate little by little, they're not supposed to be cops. Yet, everything they do is exactly what cops on a bust do! Other than one rare instance, no one is killed by the squad. Nothing really that illegal is committed by anyone. They're still caricatures of old movie characters who are based on real people. Third string should never get this much playing time.
One of the biggest disappointments for me, however, is Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen. You're given the gift of playing the evil head gangster in a mafia-esque film... you've received the best role. You are allowed to have as much fun with it as you can dream of! And yet, Penn is just whatever as Cohen. Sure, he's evil. Whenever he gets even a little pissed off, whoever had anything to do with anything that when awry gets killed. Okay, but see, there's no depth there. Then, he's just an animal who gets cranky and kills. Yeah, that's about it. There's not much to Mickey Cohen here and not much added by Penn as an actor. A good example of someone to look at who played the evil boss and had the utmost amount of fun with it is Jack Nicholson in The Departed. I realize his character is fictional, but most everything in Gangster Squad that happens is fictional-ish as well. Penn just didn't have any fun with it.
There were some really great moments in Gangster Squad which is a shame because the finished film is mostly a mess. For each really good moment there is another right after that knocks it back down. The last fifteen minutes of the movie are the absolute worst. The raid on Mickey Cohen in his hotel. There's cheap lines, slow-mo bullets flying, shit exploding, a really awkward fist-fight, a guy on a beach literally chucking his badge into the ocean, an overtly, yet unintentionally hilarious death, etc. The last fifteen minutes are so back-loaded with cheese that it's hard to leave the theater with a good taste in your mouth. I just think the movie was doomed from the start. It had a great cast, which led to high expectations. A great story, which led to even more expected from the writing. And a release date so near the Oscars that people forget that January is the dumping ground of studio runoff until summer when we get the first of the good movies back. If you can turn off your brain for two hours, it's still enjoyable. But, if you think about it for longer than a few seconds, the quality of the film immediately starts to diminish.
C
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