This crime thriller tells the story of a group of vigilante cops who are assigned to the task of bringing down gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) and all the criminal rackets that he runs. The movie looks really good, moves at a brisk pace and does a marvellous job of recreating the L.A. of the 1940s. What's less pleasing, however, is that after its initial set-up, the plot becomes ultra predictable with characters that are one-dimensional and action that turns out to be little more than a sequence of one violent attack or shootout after another. The car chases and shootouts are well choreographed but inevitably become increasingly meaningless in a drama that's alarmingly short on substance or any real suspense.
In 1949, Los Angeles is firmly in the grip of vicious crime boss Mickey Cohen whose drugs, prostitution and gambling rackets are all prospering due to the protection that he enjoys from the large number of cops, judges and politicians that he has on his payroll and the ruthlessness with which he clamps down on any competitors who may emerge. He's also extremely volatile and deals harshly with any mistakes made by his gang members. In this climate, Police Chief Bill Porter (Nick Nolte) recognises that it's almost impossible to make any meaningful progress in getting rid of Cohen by conventional methods and so decides to set up a small squad of men to operate outside of the rules and simply do whatever's necessary to bring down Cohen's business for good.
Porter selects incorruptible war veteran Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to lead the squad and he, with the help of his pregnant wife Connie (Mireille Enos), chooses five other trusted LAPD officers to complete his team. Squad member Detective Conwell Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi) is adept at wire tapping and this soon proves to be useful when, with the use of information that they gain from a bug planted in Cohen's house, the squad score successes in disrupting Cohen's wire betting operation and raiding his businesses. Playboy and fellow war veteran Sergeant Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) becomes an unenthusiastic member of the squad and soon courts danger when he starts an affair with Grace Faraday (Emma Stone) who's euphemistically described as Cohen's "etiquette tutor".
The remaining members of the squad are sharpshooter Detective Max Kennard (Robert Patrick), his Mexican sidekick Detective Navidad Ramirez (Michael Pena) who's an ace driver and uniformed cop Colman Harris (Anthony Mackie) who's an expert knife-thrower. These men all use their skills well at various points and keep making progress until a fist fight between O'Mara and Cohen brings the story and Cohen's reign to a violent conclusion.
One of this movie's outstanding assets is its all-star cast who do well to make its comic-strip characters come to life despite having to deliver some uninspired dialogue and navigate an embarrassing number of cliched situations. In this context Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Sean Penn all excel. "Gangster Squad" is strong in terms of its costumes, set design and atmosphere but also completely devoid of any twists, multi-layered characters or indeed anything that hasn't been seen or done numerous times before.
In 1949, Los Angeles is firmly in the grip of vicious crime boss Mickey Cohen whose drugs, prostitution and gambling rackets are all prospering due to the protection that he enjoys from the large number of cops, judges and politicians that he has on his payroll and the ruthlessness with which he clamps down on any competitors who may emerge. He's also extremely volatile and deals harshly with any mistakes made by his gang members. In this climate, Police Chief Bill Porter (Nick Nolte) recognises that it's almost impossible to make any meaningful progress in getting rid of Cohen by conventional methods and so decides to set up a small squad of men to operate outside of the rules and simply do whatever's necessary to bring down Cohen's business for good.
Porter selects incorruptible war veteran Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to lead the squad and he, with the help of his pregnant wife Connie (Mireille Enos), chooses five other trusted LAPD officers to complete his team. Squad member Detective Conwell Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi) is adept at wire tapping and this soon proves to be useful when, with the use of information that they gain from a bug planted in Cohen's house, the squad score successes in disrupting Cohen's wire betting operation and raiding his businesses. Playboy and fellow war veteran Sergeant Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) becomes an unenthusiastic member of the squad and soon courts danger when he starts an affair with Grace Faraday (Emma Stone) who's euphemistically described as Cohen's "etiquette tutor".
The remaining members of the squad are sharpshooter Detective Max Kennard (Robert Patrick), his Mexican sidekick Detective Navidad Ramirez (Michael Pena) who's an ace driver and uniformed cop Colman Harris (Anthony Mackie) who's an expert knife-thrower. These men all use their skills well at various points and keep making progress until a fist fight between O'Mara and Cohen brings the story and Cohen's reign to a violent conclusion.
One of this movie's outstanding assets is its all-star cast who do well to make its comic-strip characters come to life despite having to deliver some uninspired dialogue and navigate an embarrassing number of cliched situations. In this context Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Sean Penn all excel. "Gangster Squad" is strong in terms of its costumes, set design and atmosphere but also completely devoid of any twists, multi-layered characters or indeed anything that hasn't been seen or done numerous times before.