Gangster Squad (2013)

Los Angeles, 1949: A secret crew of police officers led by two determined sergeants work together in an effort to take down the ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen who runs the city.

Director:

Ruben Fleischer

Writers:

Will Beall, Paul Lieberman (book)

Stars:

Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Penn	...	Mickey Cohen
Holt McCallany	...	Karl Lockwood
Wade Williams	...	Rourke
James Landry Hébert	...	Mitch Racine (as James Hébert)
Ambyr Childers	...	Milk Skinned Blonde
Josh Brolin	...	Sgt. John O'Mara
Mick Betancourt	...	Detective Sgt. Will Hendricks
Mac Brandt	...	Bruiser
Brandon Molale	...	Jimmy 'Bockscar' Knox
Michael Papajohn	...	Mike 'The Flea'
Jeff Wolfe	...	Giovanni Vacarezza
Anthony Molinari	...	Lorenzo Molinari
Austin Highsmith	...	Patty
Ryan Gosling	...	Sgt. Jerry Wooters
Neil Koppel	...	Max Solomon

Storyline

It's 1949 Los Angeles, and gangster Mickey Cohen has moved in, with the intention of controlling all criminal activity in the city. He has bought local judges and police, and no one is willing to cross him or testify against him. Everyone except Seargant John O'Mara, a former World War II soldier, whose goal is to settle with his family in a peaceful Los Angeles. Police Chief William Parker decides to form a special unit whose mission is to take down Cohen, and chooses O'Mara to lead the unit. O'Mara chooses 4 cops and asks another cop and vet, Jerry Wooters to join him but Wooters is not interested. But when he witnesses the murder of a young boy by Cohen's people, he joins them, and they decide to take apart Cohen's organization. Cohen wonders if a rival is going after him, but eventually he realizes it's the cops.

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Plot Keywords:

judge | murder | tommy gun | drill in the head | two word title | 

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Taglines:

No names. No badges. No mercy.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros. [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fuerza antigángster

Filming Locations:

2800 East Observatory Road, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$17,070,347 (USA) (11 January 2013)

Gross:

$45,996,718 (USA) (29 March 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Langley Park Productions, Lin Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jamie Foxx was considered for the role of Coleman Harris.

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Goofs

The movie suggests that Mickey Cohen had Jack Dragna murdered in his own house, but in real life Jack Dragna died of an heart attack years later. The movie is set in the late 40's/early 50's while Dragna died of the heart attack in '56.

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Quotes

Officer Coleman Harris: I always knew I'd die in Burbank.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Pain & Gain (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Jelly Wiggle Boogie"
Written by Dan Higgins
Performed by The Gangster Squad Movie Band

User Reviews

The action is thrilling and the cast is dynamite!

'GANGSTER SQUAD': Four Stars (Out of Five)

Director Ruben Fleischer's (of 'ZOMBIELAND' and '30 MINUTES OR LESS' fame) take on a gangster film about the LAPD officers who waged war on Mickey Cohen and his gang in the 1940s and 1950s. The script was written by Will Beall (who's only previous writing experience is for the TV series 'CASTLE') and it was adapted from the book 'Tales from the Gangster Squad' by Paul Lieberman. It's highlighted by it's all-star cast including Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Patrick, Anthony Mackie and Michael Pena. If you don't take it too seriously and are just looking for a good time it's a lot of fun and packs some killer thrills and beautiful visuals.

The film is set in 1949 Los Angeles when Mickey Cohen (Penn) was the most powerful gangster in the California criminal underworld. Chief Bill Parker (Nolte) makes it his mission to stop Cohen, with whatever means necessary, so he picks Sgt. John O'Mara (Brolin) to lead up a special task force, after O'Mara recently saved a young girl from one of Cohen's deranged thugs (James Hebert). This doesn't sit well with O'Mara's pregnant wife Connie (Mireille Enos) but she reluctantly gives him her support and helps him handpick his team. Famous gangster-killer Max Kennard (Patrick), his partner Navidad Ramirez (Pena), wire-tapper Conway Keeler (Ribisi) and Detective Coleman Harris (Mackie) all join the team. O'Mara asks his buddy Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Gosling), who's sleeping with Cohen's girl Grace Faraday (Stone), to join the team as well but Wooters turns him down. Then Jerry witnesses the viscous killing of a young boy, by Cohen's men, and has a change of heart.

The movie is all style over substance but it's beautiful that way. The action is thrilling and the cast is dynamite (especially Gosling and Penn, who chew through the scenery). It's always pretty to look at and about as cool as a 40s gangster flick can be. It's completely over the top and not believable in any way but it's just a lot of fun like that. You of course can't compare it to classic gangster films like 'THE GODFATHER', 'GOODFELLAS' or 'THE DEPARTED' because it doesn't have the character depth or intriguing plot but it's still as cool as most B gangster/action flicks out there. It wants to be 'THE UNTOUCHABLES' and it doesn't quite live up to that either (which is classic as well). It lies somewhere more in between 'UNTOUCHABLES' and 1991's 'MOBSTERS' (starring Christian Slater).

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