“Gangster Squad” is a fictionalized account of true events in the 1940’s and 1950’s when the LAPD attempted to thwart the criminal activities of Mickey Cohen and his gang. Though the film does offer good performances by the actors, and was a moderate hit at the box office, it suffers from a lackluster screenplay by Will Beall and limited character development.
Director Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland” 2009) and the producers assembled a great cast that really do carry this Warner Bros. motion picture: Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Pena, Robert Patrick, Sean Penn, Mireille Enos, Jon Polito, Holt McCallany, Sullivan Stapleton, James Carpinello, Troy Garity (son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden), and Lucy Walsh, daughter of Eagles’ guitarist Joe Walsh.
Two items to mention about “Gangster Squad:” One is the unnecessarily heavy makeup for Sean Penn as Cohen, which is very distracting from his performance. Another is the fantastic second pairing of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, first in “Crazy, Stupid Love” (2011). The third time would be a charm in “La La Land” (2016), which earned Stone an Oscar for Best Actress. We hope there will be more of this duo on the big screen in the future.
Gangster Squad (2013)
cinema
My Review
“Gangster Squad” is a fictionalized account of true events in the 1940’s and 1950’s when the LAPD attempted to thwart the criminal activities of Mickey Cohen and his gang. Though the film does offer good performances by the actors, and was a moderate hit at the box office, it suffers from a lackluster screenplay by Will Beall and limited character development.
Director Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland” 2009) and the producers assembled a great cast that really do carry this Warner Bros. motion picture: Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Pena, Robert Patrick, Sean Penn, Mireille Enos, Jon Polito, Holt McCallany, Sullivan Stapleton, James Carpinello, Troy Garity (son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden), and Lucy Walsh, daughter of Eagles’ guitarist Joe Walsh.
Two items to mention about “Gangster Squad:” One is the unnecessarily heavy makeup for Sean Penn as Cohen, which is very distracting from his performance. Another is the fantastic second pairing of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, first in “Crazy, Stupid Love” (2011). The third time would be a charm in “La La Land” (2016), which earned Stone an Oscar for Best Actress. We hope there will be more of this duo on the big screen in the future.