Stylish but frustrating.
1949 Los Angeles. The film centres around gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). Up against Cohen is a specialized bunch of cops, operating without their badges (Josh Brolin, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, and Ryan Gosling). A perilous and promising hookup between Gosling and Emma Stone, who plays Cohen’s frustrated moll, is allowed to fizzle out. If Gangster Squad had given half as much time to its quality cast instead of pouring out needless violence then it could of been something.
Mickey Cohen is an over-the-top psycho, a former boxing champion who is now completely lacking in any charm. Cohen was one of the toughest and feared mob bosses around, but with Penn's puttied face delivering this with snappy pronunciations, the role is laughable.
According to the book, this film is based on true event, but some scenes are just too unlikely. Gosling and Brolin take on an armed gang of Cohen's men in a hotel lobby. Its probably about 2 verses 50, however, Gosling and Brolin make easy work of the task in front of them and dispatch the armed gang, not getting hit by the mass shooting from the enemy.
In another rather unbelievable scene, O'Mara's pregnant wife Connie (Mireille Enos) manages to survive and attack on her house, then after the attack, gives birth to her child in the bathtub, with the child seemingly ready to crawl away.
With the a-list cast available, the writing should have focused more on the characters, instead, it chose an extreme amount of violence as their selling point for this film.
J.Henderson.
4/10.
1949 Los Angeles. The film centres around gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). Up against Cohen is a specialized bunch of cops, operating without their badges (Josh Brolin, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, and Ryan Gosling). A perilous and promising hookup between Gosling and Emma Stone, who plays Cohen’s frustrated moll, is allowed to fizzle out. If Gangster Squad had given half as much time to its quality cast instead of pouring out needless violence then it could of been something.
Mickey Cohen is an over-the-top psycho, a former boxing champion who is now completely lacking in any charm. Cohen was one of the toughest and feared mob bosses around, but with Penn's puttied face delivering this with snappy pronunciations, the role is laughable.
According to the book, this film is based on true event, but some scenes are just too unlikely. Gosling and Brolin take on an armed gang of Cohen's men in a hotel lobby. Its probably about 2 verses 50, however, Gosling and Brolin make easy work of the task in front of them and dispatch the armed gang, not getting hit by the mass shooting from the enemy.
In another rather unbelievable scene, O'Mara's pregnant wife Connie (Mireille Enos) manages to survive and attack on her house, then after the attack, gives birth to her child in the bathtub, with the child seemingly ready to crawl away.
With the a-list cast available, the writing should have focused more on the characters, instead, it chose an extreme amount of violence as their selling point for this film.
J.Henderson.
4/10.
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