Today I present for your consideration Gangster Squad (2013, Rated R, Available on DVD).
It's 1949 in Los Angeles, and gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is above the law. Police Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) puts Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) in charge of a secret police squad designed to bring down Cohen. O'Mara, a veteran of World War II, is joined by four other cops, and also tries to enlist another officer and veteran, Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), to help with the cause. At first, Wooters declines. But when violence hits too close to home, Wooters decides to become a member of the squad.
For about the first 10 to 15 minutes of this movie, I wondered, What going on here? And I thought, Euuuwwww, yucky and weird. But then everything changed. The movie became interesting. I felt caught up in the plot, and most of the acting is great. I wasn't too impressed with Sean Penn. He was over the top ridiculous -- even cartoonish. But I love Josh Brolin, and O'Mara's relationship with his pregnant wife Connie (Mireille Enos) is lovely. Connie doesn't want her husband involved in anything dangerous now that he's home from the war and safe. But she gets on board and proves to be of invaluable assistance.
Then there's Ryan Gosling. Ryan Gosling is reason enough to watch this movie. If you're foolish enough not to think he's a great actor, then I'm sure you'll enjoy looking at him. He's Ryan Gosling.
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| Ryan Gosling: You're not Johnny Depp, but I love you. |
Although Gangster Squad is filmed in color, it's kind of film noir-ish. I like the style. Fast-acting tough cops versus a nasty gangster makes for lots of action and excitement. Unlike film noir of the '30s and '40s, however, you'll see more graphic violence and lots of blood. The characters are stereotypes, but they're interesting stereotypes.
This movie is definitely not for children. You might watch with teens about age 15 and older.
Gangster Squad earns The Janie Junebug Highest Seal of Approval.
Dee, I don't think you'd like this movie. Rita, I think you'd enjoy it.
Happy viewing to all of you!
Infinities of love,
Janie Junebug
A blog can't have too many photos of Ryan Gosling.
I was SO disappointed in this movie, I can't even tell you. I agree about Sean Penn being cartoonish (the ridiculous dick tracy villain make-up helped A LOT with that, to be fair). And Ryan Gosling, for reasons I cannot understand, was speaking in a strange high-pitched tone the whole movie. I assume it was part of the character but it kept me going "Ugh- why is he doing that?" the whole time.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Josh Brolin's relationship with his wife was the best part, but the romance between Gosling and Stone fell so flat I kept wishing they'd just skip those scenes.
And the noir aspect that they went for, for me, didn't work. The firefights were so chaotic I found myself fighting off a migraine by the end of it.
I think my mistake was that I went into this movie with sort-of high expectations because of the cast and I didn't realize how falsely high they were until they were struck down.
It's difficult to have high expectations and be disappointed, but I appreciate you sharing your point of view. Do you have a blog? I think I looked for it and couldn't find it.
DeleteI forgot to respond to Ryan Gosling using that higher-pitched voice. He's the kind of actor who really studies characters and plans what they'll be like, and he won't do a movie unless he thinks he can do the character justice. I don't know why he chose that voice for this character. For just a second, I thought, Is that Ryan Gosling? Maybe he was trying to make the character distinctive and different from the other men on the squad. In The Usual Suspects, Benicio del Toro uses a really weird voice that he thought was appropriate for his character. It certainly made him stand out in what was a relatively small role.
DeleteBlue Valentine is Gosling's greatest movie. It made my heart sore.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people love Blue Valentine, but it's the one Gosling movie I'm not crazy about.
DeleteI have not seen this movie and while a shirtless Ryan doesn't do much for me personally I do like his acting. I will have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll like this one.
DeleteI think Johnny Depp cut all of his hair off. Ryan is good looking. Did you like the movie "Chinatown?"
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review.
Johnny shaved his head when he played Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. His hair grew back. I like Chinatown, but I can't say it's one of my favorites. It's interesting that you brought it up, though, because you could make comparisons between Chinatown and Gangster Squad. Gangster Squad wins for me because Ryan Gosling is in it. Chinatown is definitely more of an artistic triumph.
DeleteI've never been a huge fan of Sean Penn. Gosling looks pretty good, though!
ReplyDeleteSean Penn is okay in some movies, especially when his character is sweet -- like Harvey Milk. I'm not wild about him, either. Brolin and Gosling outweigh Penn in this movie.
DeleteHaven't heard of this movie...but...YUM. You've got your own shirtless guy.
ReplyDelete-andi
I wish I could take pictures of shirtless Ryan Gosling in person. I don't think this movie received the attention it deserved. It's very entertaining.
DeleteI've heard good things about this movie, but I'm just not that interested in gangsters.
ReplyDeleteI won't argue with you. I know you don't have a little crush on Ryan Gosling, as I do.
DeleteRemember the saying from the 80's? MORE COWBELLS!!!
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't. What does it mean?
DeleteI have this in my queue. :)
ReplyDeleteI will look for the cowbell sketch from SNL for you and send you the link.
Why am I not surprised that it's in your queue? Psych!
DeleteI hate over-the-top-ridiculous. I think it's ridiculous, and I mean that in an over the top way. I never felt compelled to go and see this movie and now I know for sure I don't want to see it, in spite of Ryan Gosling. I did ask him to pay you a visit and shoot a few scenes with you. I hope you don't mind.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you, darling. I await Ryan's arrival.
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