Gangster Squad- Review

"No names. No badges. No mercy."

(Before I begin this review proper, I feel it is necessary for me to address Gangster Squad's troubled production history. Due to the tragic events of the Aurora Colorado theater shooting, Warner Bros. Studios delayed the film from its initial September 7, 2012 release. Considering the thoughts and feelings of the victims involved, Warner Bros. made several moves that some have deemed controversial in nature.  Its theatrical trailer was pulled from preview lists, along with most of its promotional material. A scene in which four mobsters fire machine guns through a cinema screen into a crowded theater was removed and replaced with a sequence now set in the Chinatown district of Los Angeles. Several rewrites were made to the script to accommodate the change and a new release date of January 11, 2013 was instituted. Some viewers have seen this as an act of censorship, and think the movie was unfairly edited. In the interest of fairness to the creators involved, I will not let these events affect my overall impression and rating of the film. Thank you.)

As of the writing of this review it is January 2013. This is the time of the year for me where I feel movie studios are mostly just kicking out cinema that I would consider "mediocremarkable" at best. Movies that are there to simply fill the void from January to late April, while I wait for the summer blockbuster season's inevitable start in May. Imagine my surprise then when Gangster Squad turned out to not be one of these films; contrary to what most critics have already said about it.

Sadly Gangster Squad will (and has received) negative comparisons to the likes of the legendary film classic The Untouchables. Some have claimed it to be a "dumbed down" or "more boring" version of that film, to which I have respectfully disagreed. I found myself with an aching face by the time the movie's credits rolled, due to the fact that I had a huge Cheshire-cat like grin from practically the opening shot. Will Beall's (Castle) screenplay, and Rob Fliescher's (Zombieland) direction really served to make what amounted to be a highly enjoyable noir style flick. Now while I may have had my discordance with my peers as to the quality of Gangster Squad I have agreed with several that the film did have some issues depending on what kind of movie viewer you were.

The story is set in 1949 Los Angeles as mafia king-pin Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) stands to gain complete control of the west coast criminal underworld. With witnesses being killed, rival gangs destroyed, and Judges/Cops/Lawyers all added to the mob's payroll, it seems nothing can stop Cohen's ruthless advance for more power. That is until Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) recruits Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to a specialized unit dedicated purely to dismantling Cohen's empire. Five other good willed cops are then assembled into the fold to begin the blood war for the soul of L.A.

Historical accuracy was the department that Gangster Squad definitely lacked in the most. While it was based on a true story (and the book of the same name by Paul Lieberman) you probably wouldn't have guessed it. This was Hollywood sensationalism in full effect here, and if you were into that kind of movie making, then you came to the right place. Gangster Squad was filled to the brim with cool slow-mo tommy gun shootouts, high speed car chases, and hard boiled cops with chiseled features who didn't have time for mercy. All the actors played their parts well, knowing that their roles were essentially old film noir cliches.

To me this wasn't a bad thing. I found the flick to be quite refreshing by just being a more straight up gangster pulp story akin to those found in the 1950's. Albeit with more modern sensibilities in its cinematography and presentation. If one were to think of it like Zack Snyder (of Sucker Punch/300 fame) doing Dick Tracy then you've got a pretty good idea. Set pieces were huge, with large sweeping camera angles that showed off everything, allowing for a pretty good deal of immersion into the film's pastiche of late 1940's L.A.

See what I mean when I say Zack Snyder doing Dick Tracy?

I mentioned Will Beall earlier for his screenplay and I really did think it was one of the things that (when in tandem with the actor's excellent performances) made Gangster Squad shine. All of the characters had a small degree of levity injected into them so as to make them likable not only to each other but also with the audience. Ryan Gosling's character Jerry Wooters in particular stood out as a great example of this. He was suave, and a bit of a smart ass, but had the best of intentions always at heart. His on screen chemistry with actors like Josh Brolin and Emma Stone were very well felt and made the conversations in Gangster Squad just a blast to listen to at times. A modest portion of the dialogue was quite quotable. There was a particular scene early on in the film where Wooters met Grace Faraday (Emma Stone) that had such charisma to it that I'm sure everybody wished to some extent that they could be that cool in front of someone. At least I know I did during that scene.

That wasn't to say that the movie didn't have a darker edge. Characters like Mickey Cohen and John O'Mara helped provide a good bit of drama, making for some very nice gravitas to certain sequences. The opening narration done by O'Mara helped set up the tone and thematic rivalry that the squad had with Cohen and his rabble of goons. While it can be seen as being a tad on the cliche' side of things it did carry some nice weight to its words.

"Everyman wears a badge." was what O'Mara said and as the narrative progressed we saw the costs for wearing that badge. John O'Mara was your all around good cop. He believed in justice, could not be bought, and would love nothing more than to see someone like Cohen get put behind bars. As a World War 2 veteran though he found himself unable to stop fighting the good fight. The relationship he had with his pregnant wife Connie (Mireille Enos) was a sobering tale of how one's personal sense of duty can form a divide with a growing family.

Because of these elements, some have said that Gangster Squad lacked in a consistent tone or feel. While I did agree with this, it was only marginally. I felt like the bits of fun dialogue coupled with the bouts of heavy drama evened out in the end. Making for a screen play that didn't take itself too seriously, but also knew when to get down to business.

Jerry Wooters is swag itself.

If there was a negative that I could bring up about the screenplay it was that some characters never really developed past a simple trait. For instance one of the squad members Max Kennard (Robert Patrick) was pretty much defined with "He is a really good shot." and not much else. Hell, some characters only existed in a hand full of scenes. Nick Nolte's character Bill Parker only had about two actual scenes where he spoke. While the film never really did any of this too poorly, I did feel that was what made some of the side characters hard to remember other than as "That one guy who shoots good" or "The dude who throws knives." 

Rob Fliescher's direction did help to make the movie come alive with tons of film noir style. The use of dynamic lighting pouring through cigarette smoke filled night clubs was beautiful. Action scenes held a great degree of kinetic energy to them (even with the slow-motion) that never felt like they went on for too long, or were too short. All of the major set pieces had their own identity and didn't blur together at any one point. Because of this Gangster Squad sailed by at an impeccably brisk, yet gratifying pace.

The stylish cinematography remained topnotch throughout too. While the story may have its detractors, no one could say that Gangster Squad was poorly assembled. Not once did I ever run into a scene where I didn't know what was going on, or where something was. All the information the audience needed to know was appropriately conveyed, with no major gaffs in scene continuity as far as I could tell. This was something I've felt has been severely lacking in modern cinema today. Most filmmakers opt for using camera shakes, quick cuts, and poor framing/lighting to cover up the flaws or lackluster action their movie may have. I thought the car chase scene in the first act was a very noteworthy example, as it conveyed all of the action to the audience incredibly well. For those looking to get into film making, Gangster Squad was an excellent example of how a movie is made. A lot of attention was put into the lighting, framing, and pace for each scene.  

"Every man wears a badge."

The music was also something to take note of, as sounds from the period permeated almost every scene. With the big band brass instruments blaring, I almost couldn't resist the urge to stand up in the theater and do some rag-time at points. The music for the night club scenes were specifically the standout numbers as they brought the most charm to the film's feel.

I've seen it argued that the movie was predictable and simple, to which I actually have agreed, but I didn't see this as a negative. Simple doesn't always mean that a story or its characters are bad in my books. Flat and boring pieces on the other hand... Here the movie was simple in that good sort of way. You knew how certain scenes were going to play out, and frankly you couldn't wait to get to them. You wanted to see the car chase. You wanted to see the hotel shootout. You wanted to see the inevitable fist fight with the mob boss, with great one-liner quotes being thrown about all the while. You wanted to see it all. Granted, not everyone will feel this way, but if you're into that Dick Tracy sort of pulp storytelling then I think you will get along just fine.

Overall (even as I write this review) I don't feel like I can properly articulate my sentiments towards this film. Gangster Squad just has a certain sense of earnestness to it that is hard to describe. While it isn't the greatest noir film ever made by any means, it is an incredibly entertaining one. With plenty of instantly quotable lines, and a great deal of style to its action/visuals this is almost perfect for those times when you just want to have some fun popcorn cinema. I think if you're a fan of more Hollywood action style cop films you will probably like this. If you're someone who is looking for something more accurate to historical events (or for that matter reality) then you may be gearing up for some disappointment.

Positive Factors

• Great sense of style and Hollywood action.
• Fun characters and quotable dialogue.
• Very well paced story and action that never make the movie feel too long or short.
• Beautiful cinematography. No "shaky cam" to be found.
• Predictable, but in the "I can't wait to see it!" sort of way.
• Great soundtrack that matches the film's setting.

Negative Factors

• Not much in the way of historical accuracy, or reality.
• Shifts in tone may be jarring to some.
• The story may feel too predictable at times.
• Some characters fall flat due to a lack of development.

Final Rating:  Splenderiffic!