January movies are traditionally terrible. With this fact in mind, I generally try to avoid theaters for one month out of the year. Unfortunately for me, the top-notch cast and original September release date tricked me into buying the notion that this could be a good movie. The fact that my friends showed up unannounced to drag me out to see it didn't help either.
This movie aims to be something lasting, but for any serious movie buff, it falls well short of it's target. At times, it felt to me like a legitimate comedy. Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is a mob connected ex-boxer who decides that L.A. is his for the taking. Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) is a WWII vet who is tasked with creating a crew to take him down. The rest of the cast falls into the "good guys" category of cops, moles, and love interests. This includes (but is not limited to) Ryan Gosling, Robert Patrick, and Emma Stone.
I was never bored during this film. Having seen many movies, even the terrible scenes kept me entertained by the sheer brilliance of over-used plot devices and clichéd character stories. Need a borderline cop who drinks, smokes, gambles, but has morals? Ryan Gosling has you covered. Old fashioned six-shooter cop with dead aim? Don't worry, Robert Patrick is there. Fear not, because the writer (Will Beall) has also included the 1940s tech guy, as well as a token black cop aggravated with heroin use in the community, and an apprentice to Patrick's character who just happens to be Hispanic.
I blame the failure of this movie entirely on unimaginative writing, to the point of being almost insulting. It is not as if Brolin, Gosling, Patrick, or least of all, Penn, are bad actors. They certainly made bad choices signing onto this script, but I can't see the checks they are cashing. The entire plot is predictable. 15 minutes into the movie, anyone could accurately predict the next hour or more. The actors are given nothing to work with. Additionally, Emma Stone's character serves no purpose whatsoever other than to add an attractive female supporting. Though the film is well-shot (what isn't nowadays) and has beautiful set details, the writing is so laughable it is nearly impossible to enjoy much of this movie.
I'm not one to give a movie anything less than 4-5 stars merely because I did not like it. Seems childish, but I couldn't give this more than three. The pace never slowed, good for a star. The setting was good, that's another. Finally, the cast did what they could with this script, that makes three. Can't find another strength to this movie. If you want to see the disowned child of L.A. Confidential be my guest. Re-watching something you actually like is probably a better option.
This movie aims to be something lasting, but for any serious movie buff, it falls well short of it's target. At times, it felt to me like a legitimate comedy. Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is a mob connected ex-boxer who decides that L.A. is his for the taking. Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) is a WWII vet who is tasked with creating a crew to take him down. The rest of the cast falls into the "good guys" category of cops, moles, and love interests. This includes (but is not limited to) Ryan Gosling, Robert Patrick, and Emma Stone.
I was never bored during this film. Having seen many movies, even the terrible scenes kept me entertained by the sheer brilliance of over-used plot devices and clichéd character stories. Need a borderline cop who drinks, smokes, gambles, but has morals? Ryan Gosling has you covered. Old fashioned six-shooter cop with dead aim? Don't worry, Robert Patrick is there. Fear not, because the writer (Will Beall) has also included the 1940s tech guy, as well as a token black cop aggravated with heroin use in the community, and an apprentice to Patrick's character who just happens to be Hispanic.
I blame the failure of this movie entirely on unimaginative writing, to the point of being almost insulting. It is not as if Brolin, Gosling, Patrick, or least of all, Penn, are bad actors. They certainly made bad choices signing onto this script, but I can't see the checks they are cashing. The entire plot is predictable. 15 minutes into the movie, anyone could accurately predict the next hour or more. The actors are given nothing to work with. Additionally, Emma Stone's character serves no purpose whatsoever other than to add an attractive female supporting. Though the film is well-shot (what isn't nowadays) and has beautiful set details, the writing is so laughable it is nearly impossible to enjoy much of this movie.
I'm not one to give a movie anything less than 4-5 stars merely because I did not like it. Seems childish, but I couldn't give this more than three. The pace never slowed, good for a star. The setting was good, that's another. Finally, the cast did what they could with this script, that makes three. Can't find another strength to this movie. If you want to see the disowned child of L.A. Confidential be my guest. Re-watching something you actually like is probably a better option.