Light it up action, a menacing villain and an incorrigible hero.
Add it all up and what do you get? You get the best mob movie made since “The Departed.”
Sean Penn gave a bone chilling performance as a mob boss in downtown Los Angeles in 1949. His character, Mickey Cohen, was dead set on establishing himself as the “God” of the west. A former boxer in his youth, Cohen learned how to fight for what he wanted. He vividly described himself as a man unwilling to give up what was his. In his mind, L.A. was his city.
John O’Mara, the incorrigible hero played by Josh Brolin, is determined to finish Penn before he could take hold of the entire underground gambling community on the west coast. And despite his wife’s desperate pleas to keep him home and out of the line of fire, O’Mara goes with his instincts. Somebody had to bring down Cohen and he told himself he might as well be the one to do it.
This gripping tale told by new director Ruben Fleischer earned its place among its gory and harrowing predecessors like “The Departed” and “American Gangster.”
The greatest reason this film was as entertaining as it was is the unforgettable performance by Penn. He owned the character Mickey Cohen, and Brolin was the perfect selection for a man unwilling to set down a case that would likely cost him his life.
The film was also scattered with other Hollywood stars who have had successful careers. The well-known Ryan Gosling (previously in “The Notebook”) is among them. Gosling played a sidekick to O’Mara and offered much of what little comic relief could be found in the script.
Robert Patrick Hammond, whose claim to fame is “Terminator 2,” played a renegade gunman who simply enjoys shooting mobsters.
Once it’s all said and done, “Gangster Squad” is no elegant masterpiece, but it is a gritty, grip-your-armrests type of movie. It is perfect for a guy’s night out if you’re into blood, guts, war and boxing. Or if you want a girl to grip your arm in times of terror, this is your chance.
Leave a Reply