Gangster Squad (2013)

Gangster Squad (Dir: Ruben Fleischer, 2013). 

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this movie is the first film in the ‘La La Land’ franchise! In spite of featuring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in leading roles against a backdrop of Los Angeles, Gangster Squad is, as its title would imply, a pretty violent yet kinda glossy mob movie. 

Josh Brolin heads up a fabulous cast including Gosling, Stone, Nick Nolte, Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Peña in a fictionalised account of the LAPD’s attempts to wrest control of the city from Mob boss Mickey Cohen, a heavily made-up Sean Penn seemingly channelling Al Pacino’s Big Boy Caprice from Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty, 1990). The cast cannot be faulted. Neither can cinematographer Dion Beebe who utilises every conceivable shade of brown in a stylish recreation of 1949 LA. 

However, as terrific as the cast is and as lovely as it looks, Gangster Squad is perhaps not quite the movie it may have been. With its dark, noir-ish themes and its vintage Los Angeles setting it kind of gives the impression of wanting to be LA Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997). While it is undoubtedly a quality production, it just isn’t as good as that masterpiece. 

I love a 1930s gangster movie almost as much as I love a 1940s crime thriller, so I guess Gangster Squad had a lot of built-in appeal for me and I did enjoy it. It’s just that I have seen this sort of thing done better. As noir homage LA Confidential can’t be beat. If it’s a lovingly recreated 1930s era gangster flick you want, check out Joel and Ethan Coen’s superior Miller’s Crossing (1990).