Review of Gangster Squad (2013) by Rocknblues 8 — 22 Feb 2014

Gangster Squad is stylish and pulpy gangster film that comes nowhere close to the films it takes from. Does that matter it a failure? I had a tough time trying to decide if I wanted to give it a fresh or a rotten rating. The film is energetic, and the cast is top notch. Who is better than Josh Brolin at playing a bad ass? Not many. Ryan Gosling is solid as the laid back smooth talking Sgt. Jerry Wooters who no longer has any emotional attachment to anything that happens around him. We very much understand that he was once I good cop who gave in to cynicism. Which makes him the polar opposite of Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) who will stop at nothing to take down the dangerous and over the top Mickey Cohen (played by Sean Penn).

The film is filled with snappy dialogue and shootouts, but there is nothing going on underneath the surface. Emma Stone is cast as Gosling's love interest, and they clearly have really good on screen chemistry, but her character does not provide anything of substance either. Which is not her fault. because the movie isn't built to do more than entertain. If you want more than that you might as well stick with The Godfather and Goodfellas.

In the end, I had low expectations and I found this fairly enjoyable.