Aside from last year’s rather good Lawless, what was once a thriving class of films has now died off somewhat, and everyone seems to be looking to Gangster Squad as the revolution which will bring the true American gangster movie back from the grave, but, even with its admittedly interesting hook, can it really succeed in doing so?
Sick of seeing Mickey Coen (Sean Penn, Milk) buying the law and taking over the entirety of Los Angeles, with his ruthless attitude and aggressive expansion plans, aging police chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte, Warrior) rounds up the last few good men left in his force and forms his “Gangster Squad” – a bunch of misfits with one solitary mission – to drive Coen out of the city and dispel the mob from the West Coast once and for all.
As the main acting force to drive the film Josh Brolin (Men In Black 3) works rather well as the ex-army, honest, family man, Sgt. John O’Mara; with his specific stone faced look fitting O’Mara’s military background as a man of honour doing what’s morally right; holding a commanding look throughout, and adding to his aura of stopping at nothing to get the job done, no matter the cost.
Drive’s Ryan Gosling also excels in his role as the drifter-esque Jerry Wooters (drifting into a habit of boozing and womanising before fully cleaning up and committing to his role as a lawman), and the final members of the Gangster Squad also deliver; with Ted’s Giovanni Ribisi playing a worthwhile scientist in an ocean of testosterone (contrasting the guns blazing approach of everyone else), and Terminator 2’s Robert Patrick appearing under some old-man make-up to deliver the film’s best acting turn, and some pure entertainment, as the aging quick draw shooter Max Kennard who’s simply looking for one last day in the sun before retirement.
Penn however, seems to think he’s in a high art playing up to the somewhat sillier aspects of Coen in an attempt to get the crime boss to a higher plateau when he can’t achieve it. His utter ruthlessness makes him seem comedic, because if anyone from his gang fails it’s death – Give away the location of one of his brothels, death. Get shot at, beaten, and lose a drug shipment to the Gangster Squad, death. Put two sugars instead of one into tea, death (it’s surprising he even has a gang left at the end of the film) – but despite fitting the tone of the film, Coen is still a bit too cartoony, and Penn is only okay in the role.
Emma Stone (Amazing Spider-Man) is the only worthwhile female member of the cast, yet despite being Coen’s moll and Wooters’ bit on the side she’s such a background character it’s borderline hilarious (you wouldn’t expect such a popular and proficient actress to accept such a duff ‘Damsel in distress’ role), and, following another disturbing trend seen in Lawless, even though he’s third or fourth billed, Nolte’s police chief can only be on-screen for a mere five minutes.
Gangster Squad’s style and feel isn’t dissimilar to Gosling’s outing in Drive, but while Drive’s viewing experience almost had you feeling you were stoned, here you get the warm feeling from the sun kissed California state simmering off the movie reel. There’s a delicious clash between the Californian location and these dirty mid-United States and East Coast mobsters invading (as it’s something that’s not usually seen or talked about), and there’s something of a spectacle in seeing a gangster drive-by hit (which usually takes place on the grubby streets of New York or Chicago) in a cozy little L.A. suburb.
Using the gangster/mob culture as a set piece, there’ s nothing out of place; Stone looks stunning in her ‘40s era dresses, and all the male police characters suit the look in worn, weathered, trenchcoats; the gangsters all look pretty standard, but fit quite well in their pure black suits, and there’s clearly been plenty of effort to ensure Gangster Squad looks authentic.
However, there’s an awful tendency to stroll into goofy territory here; the scientists argument that killing makes them no better (or possibly worse) than the criminals they’re out to stop falls flat on its face when all of the gangsters they kill fire on them first, and they see countless drug deals, beatings, bribings, and establish that their usual bosses have all been bent by Coen and co. – The first bust on a Coen casino sees the Squad chased off by the local cops, and may as well be shown in fast forward with the the Benny Hill theme playing in the background it’s that dumb, and it’s clear the problem lies with the choice of director.
Ruben Fleischer (of Zombieland fame) directed Gangster Squad, and while Zombieland works absolutely fine as a comedy-horror film, a lot of the promotional material for Gangster Squad presents it as a hard, straight-ish, crime film with hardly any let on to the Zombieland-like tone we get with the full picture. Fleischer does play it straight for the most part, but there are inconsistent moments. It’s a bloody fantastic and thoroughly entertaining picture, but not what everyone would expect (or possible enjoy) from being lured in with the various advertisements.
Unoriginality is rampant too; there are nods to other films (with the final fistfight – “for the soul of Los Angeles!” – being eerily similar to Lethal Weapon’s water soaked climax), and other mob film moments being allured to in near parody territory at times; though Fleischer does deserve credit for trying something different from his usual comedy exploits.
It’s a very entertaining ‘what if’; film actually based on a true story, but with misleading promo work and an ultimately disappointing cast only being softened by a cool setting clash, it’s an odd curiosity of the crime genre. If it was done straight, it could have been something more, but with the whiff of unintentional and intentional comedy, there’s no way Gangster Squad will revive the gangster genre single handedly.
Terry Lewis – @thatterrylewis.
