Gangster Squad

ATTN:  MOVIE SPOILERS INCLUDED

Gangster Squad

January 20, 2013

3.5 out of 5 bags of popcorn for the overall movie

4 out of 5 boxes of milk duds for my own personal entertainment

My Suggestion:  Theatre or DVD

The Gist:  This film is set in Los Angeles in 1949.  Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) puts together a secret crew of police officers working outside the law to bring down mob boss Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) who is sick with power and set on taking over all of the city’s criminal activities.  The lines between legal and illegal are blurred, as things get dirty and the squad cuts into Mickey’s profits in a major way.    

My take:

Talk about an incredible cast!  Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling (one of my personal favorites) and Emma Stone.  Doesn’t get much more Hollywood then that!  With a powerhouse cast like that I think the expectations for this movie were high!  A little too high!  I must admit I was a bit shocked by all the BAD reviews on this film AND for all the praise of Sean Penn’s performance. 

The downfall of this film was two-fold, first and surprisingly, was Sean Penn’s performance as mob boss Mickey Cohen.  On paper and in the trailers he seems perfect for the role, but for some reason it just didn’t work for me.  The only thing I could put my finger on was that I think he over acted the role.  His painfully slow and slurred speech, along with his overly surly attitude just played off as fake.  Secondly, was the fact that there was really nothing different about this film than any other gangster film out there.  If you are looking for something entertaining this will work, if you are looking for something new and exciting this doesn’t quite fit the bill.  That is why I feel the reviews have been so negative.  

For my part, I liked it.  Sure it had a bit of a been there done that feel, but there is plenty of action and a few overly gruesome kill scenes which kept it entertaining.  Once the action picked up it was easy to get into the film.  I loved the depth to most of the characters and I felt I got to know and care about what happened to each one of them.  If you like action films with a gangster-type feel then I predict you will enjoy this movie as much as I did.