Gangster Squad (2013)
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and — if he has his way — every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop… except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara and Jerry Wooters who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.
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9 films that influenced Gangster Squad
What critics say influenced Gangster Squad
Better they should be looking for the heinous computer boffins who turned Gangster Squad from film noir homage into a lurid cartoon, something that seeks the drama of The Untouchables and L.A. Confidential but instead apes the empty theatrics of Dick Tracy.
The stylishly empty period crime drama Gangster Squad , from Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer, is ostensibly based on a true story, but it steals liberally from James Ellroy, Dick Tracy , and The Untouchables , and it seems hell-bent on topping its transparent inspirations in at least one crucial respect: the volume, intensity, and ubiquity of its wall-to-wall violence.
It is not The Untouchables , although it borrows enough plot points from Brian De Palma’s film that you’d be forgiven for getting them confused.
The cops-and-cons stuff is all cliché, and even Penn's over-the-top Cohen can't help but recall Robert De Niro's equally oversized turn as Al Capone in The Untouchables.
The true inspiration for “Gangster Squad’’ — like so many other period films these days — is actually other movies, principally Brian De Palma’s “The Untouchables,’’ which was written by David Mamet.
Furthermore, Gangster Squad is aware of the legacy of crime, gangster and action films to have come since so there are also moments that seem to be direct references to films such as Dirty Harry (Don Siegel, 1971), Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983) The Untouchables (Brian De Palma, 1987) and Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987).
Better they should be looking for the heinous computer boffins who turned Gangster Squad from film noir homage into a lurid cartoon, something that seeks the drama of The Untouchables and L.A. Confidential but instead apes the empty theatrics of Dick Tracy.
Apart from the gore—and there's plenty—this is basically L.A. Confidential without the script: an upright police detective in 1949 (Josh Brolin) rounds up some like-minded renegades on the force (Ryan Gosling, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick) to wage war on real-life gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn).
Gangster Squad is no L.A. Confidential, nor is it much of a history lesson, compressing some 15 years (part of which Cohen spent in jail) into a few months.
Working with cinematographer Dion Beebe, Fleischer dresses Gangster Squad in a film noir look, and saddles it with all the aspirations of, say, a Goodfellas or L.A. Confidential.
It's obvious, however, that Beall is mostly drawing on his experience with other movies, particularly the previous generation of revisionist period crime dramas, films like Brian De Palma's 1987 The Untouchables, which Gangster Squad's plot hews close to, and Curtis Hanson's 1997 L.A. Confidential.
Or the ultraviolent concluding shootout that rips off everything from “The Untouchables” to “Bonnie and Clyde” to “Dirty Harry” to various other things I didn’t bother to identify?
Gangster movies love two themes most: crime and celebrity (Bonnie and Clyde et al) and Westward Expansion (Goodfellas etc).
Some scenes have a definite “Sin City” vibe – the heightened visuals have no use for realism – and some of the slow motion effects are astounding.
Nevertheless, it is a fun ride that signposts right from the beginning that it is working on a very stylised level in a similar yet far less apparent way to Sin City (Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, 2005).
Rather it's a gleaming, glossy parade of good-looking actors trading quips and striking poses in sexy period duds, only a couple of stops more naturalistic than "Sin City" or "Dick Tracy."
The opening title card of Gangster Squad says “inspired by a true story,” which is pretty funny, considering the movie immediately following it is Sin City meets Young Guns in the form of a Jimmy Cagney parody.
That is rid it of the scourge of a murderous gangster spreading drugs and prostitution, in this case the Jewish mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn, looking like a fugitive from “Sin City”).
This isn't the heavy-handed CG-noir of Sin City, but even so, it feels fake.
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Furthermore, Gangster Squad is aware of the legacy of crime, gangster and action films to have come since so there are also moments that seem to be direct references to films such as Dirty Harry (Don Siegel, 1971), Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983) The Untouchables (Brian De Palma, 1987) and Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987).
Or the ultraviolent concluding shootout that rips off everything from “The Untouchables” to “Bonnie and Clyde” to “Dirty Harry” to various other things I didn’t bother to identify?
Instead of Raymond Chandler or playwright Mamet (“Glengarry Glen Ross”), Beall’s dialogue is reminiscent of the witless cop banter on TV’s “Hawaii Five-O.”
Early on, there's still hope that "Gangster Squad" might at least aspire to the crackling volatility of " L.A. Confidential ," the brash brutality of " Mulholland Falls ," the verbal and visual eloquence of " Miller's Crossing " or the classy opulence of Barry Levinson's " Bugsy " (partially set in nearly the the same place and time, and featuring Harvey Keitel as Cohen).
Of course Jon Polito shows up, as he has in every gangster period piece since “Miller’s Crossing.”
Cinematographer Dion Beebe, who earned an Oscar for his work on " Memoirs of a Geisha " (and was nominated for " Chicago "), bathes "Gangster Squad" in a rich palette of smoky shadows and dazzling night-life opulence.
Dion Beebe’s (“Memoirs of a Geisha”) cinematography catches just the right flesh tones and muted colors of ’50s era movies.
The blood and guts get plenty of beauty shots from director of photography Dion Beebe, whose refined work in "Memoirs of a Geisha" earned him an Oscar.
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Inspired by Paul Lieberman's series for the Los Angeles Times, "Tales from the Gangster Squad," the movie ducks the obvious comparisons with "LA Confidential," "Mulholland Falls" and "Bugsy" by opting for a pulpy vibe and poppy, comic book visuals.
Early on, there's still hope that "Gangster Squad" might at least aspire to the crackling volatility of " L.A. Confidential ," the brash brutality of " Mulholland Falls ," the verbal and visual eloquence of " Miller's Crossing " or the classy opulence of Barry Levinson's " Bugsy " (partially set in nearly the the same place and time, and featuring Harvey Keitel as Cohen).
This “inspired by a true story” tale bears more than a passing resemblance to an earlier Nolte fedoras-and-fistfights cop picture, “Mulholland Falls,” named for a hillside where brutal cops sent gangsters tumbling after one of their “Get outta town” lectures.
With his lantern jaw and tough, Glenn Ford-like attitude, only Brolin looks as though he’s been on hard-boil since the era in question (though one supposes the underused Nolte has been salt-curing since his “Mulholland Falls” days as well).
"Gangster Squad" is suitably pulpy without wading into over-the-top mockery?in other words, it doesn't reach the dizzying lows of 2006's Brian De Palma misfire " The Black Dahlia "?its impressive aesthetics and mid-level script and direction positioning it instead as something of an unofficial companion to 1996's "Mulholland Falls."