Gangster Squad

I may have to go out and buy a fedora , a crisp new suit and a Tommy gun! Okay maybe none of them, but films like Gangster Squad really get your adrenaline pumping!

That shiz is gangsta!

The story goes that mob-boss Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is growing more and more powerful in the city of Los Angeles. He wants increased territory and power so starts pulling underhanded moves against his just-as-dishonest neighbours in Chicago and the West Coast.

Cue Sergeant James O'Mara (Josh Brolin), who is "recruited" (if you can call it that) by Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) for an undercover, non-LAPD-endorsed, ultra-sensitive, covert-gang mission (...and breathe). O'Mara is against Cohen's ruthless grip on the city and has shown it by breaking a few rules on his daily patrols.

So that's the Gangster Squad. Imagine Ocean's Eleven, but a bit further back in the past, with swankier clothes, less gambling (although it is featured) and many more Tommy guns and you have something which is very different; very different, but in essence, using a group to get back at the man with the power.

O'Mara or "Sarge", as he's referred to by his team of five, hit Cohen's dens, shops, bars, clubs and also his shipments, never taking anything for themselves but leaving Cohen scarred. They burn money and shoot his guys in the leg (they are officers of the law, they must uphold some of the rules; leg wounds are allowed).

The Gangster Squad are all men of the law; they can't be bought, and Cohen knows this. He gets increasingly frustrated as his empire is brought down around him, but he does manage to get his own-back on a few members of the group, as well as the people they care about.

It's all very predictable, but it's done in a such a suave way that takes the 40s/50s best bits and crams them into a feature film with drugs, guns and money. All major ways to grab the attention of an audience and keep it. The filter / effect that the feature is filmed in also helps reinforce the gritty and seedy underbelly of LA while glamorising the bars and clubs, and the music that accompanies them.

In conclusion, I think the next costume I get will be accompanied by a fedora; if I'd had that while I watched this film, that would have increased my cool tenfold. Perhaps.


:-)

Elky