The Rambling Review: Gangster Squad

           Howdy there! I'm Justin, and I'll be posting here on Simple Minded Movies from time to time. For all of you simple minded moviegoers who may want to go a little deeper into the heart and soul of the art of a film, my Rambling Review segment will be for you. I have a lot to say, and I'll try to make sense of it before I put it out to you guys, but if you like to read reviews on the longer side, you'll(hopefully) pick up what I'm putting down. Here's my first Rambling Review of the movie Gangster Squad:

         
           In the words of Sgt. John O'Mara,“Every man carries a badge”...For WWII veteran O'Mara(Josh Brolin), that badge is the city of Los Angeles. For retired boxer and crime lord Mickey Cohen(Sean Penn), that badge is a desire for money and power. For the writers of Gangster Squad's screenplay, however, that badge appears to be hastily written dialogue and mindless violence.

           Set in 1949 Los Angeles, Gangster Squad turns the City of Angels into a battlefield in which six savvy cops lay down their badges in an attempt to take down the untouchable and seemingly unstoppable mobster Mickey Cohen. Cohen is on a warpath and is set to take control of the US West Coast in typical mob fashion(paying off judges and cops, dealing drugs, and laundering lots of money). However, Sgt. John O'Mara is a cop who can't be bought, and makes this clear by taking down one of Cohen's crackhouses single-handedly. Taking notice of O'Mara's bravery, dedication, and military background(most of which he is not at liberty to discuss), Chief of Police Parker(Nick Nolte) recruits him to put a squad of officers together and wage an underground war against Mickey Cohen's empire.

           Much to the chagrin of his pregnant wife, Connie(Mireille Enos), O'Mara accepts. He then recruits 5 men: Sgt. Jerry Wooters(Ryan Gosling), Officer Coleman Harris(Anthony Mackie), Officer Max Kennard(Robert Patrick), Officer Navidad Ramirez(Michael Pena), and Officer Conway Keeler(Giovanni Ribisi). These men are to leave their badges at home and put their lives on the line to take down Mickey Cohen, and stop his plan of creating a central book in Los Angeles. Will they succeed? Will they all perish in the attempt? Regardless, there will be gunfire and explosions aplenty, as well as plenty of awkward scenes between the fiery redheaded Emma Stone and the hard-bodied, sharply-dressed Ryan Godling, er, Gosling(Who raised his voice an octave in anticipation of his role in this movie).

           Before I begin my review, I will say that I was excited to see this movie. With a strong cast including Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, and Giovanni Ribisi, as well as the director of Zombieland, Ruben Fleischer, at its helm, I was expecting interesting, if not good, things. I saw the preview for Gangster Squad just after seeing Lawless in theaters last year, which was a movie set in the 30's that I very much enjoyed. As Lawless was a movie about moonshine runners, I was eager to see a movie from a similar era, but seen from the point of view of the law. Again, I was very excited for this movie.

           However, I walked out of the theater after Gangster Squad wanting...more. I felt unfulfilled after seeing this movie. When I go to the theater, I want to leave it with some part of the movie on my mind, be it a quote, or memorable scene, something I can put into my “mental scrapbook” of movies, as it were. But nothing in this movie stuck out to me. I didn't walk out repeating an inspiring quote to myself, or re-living an emotional scene in my mind. There was nothing to keep with me for for the future. I had a ticket stub and that was all.

           When I walk out of a movie feeling this way, I immediately know the problem. Bad writing. And in this movie, it was indeed bad. The dialogue was bland, and nothing the characters said left an impression on me. The scenes with dialogue between two people were just awkward(I'm looking at you, Gosling). Some of them barely contained any lines at all, and seemed to consist mostly of either someone taking a drag of their cigarette, or staring awkwardly into the distance.

           I realized looking back on this movie that there were a lot of action scenes, which, I suppose, is a great way to mask bad writing. If everyone is always shooting at each other, no one has time to talk. However, even the action sequences left me disappointed. There just seemed to be a lot of mindless shooting with no consequences, which, considering the leader of the squad is a special ops trained army veteran, didn't make a lot of sense to me.

           All of this, combined with Ryan Gosling's character choice to speak in falsetto the entire movie, left me disappointed in Gangster Squad. I wanted to leave this movie with my mouth hanging open, and wondering how they could have left me so speechless. Instead, I left it with my wallet hanging open, myself staring into it, and wondering why in the world I hadn't seen Django Unchained yet.

           I can't say this movie was good. However I can't say it was terrible either. I give props where props are due, and I have to give props to most of the cast for doing what they could with such a poorly written script. Josh Brolin played the badass ex-army vet very well, and though I've seen better out of Sean Penn, his role as the crime-lord/boxer was well cast. If you're planning on seeing this movie in theaters, I say wait until it's on Netflix, or you can see it somewhere cheap. There are other movies I would recommend spending twelve bucks on, such as Django Unchained or Silver Linings Playbook. Or if you're still in the mood for mindless gunfire, you could see The Last Stand.

           All in all, my policy on movies is that they are an art form, and you have to see one for yourself to decide what you think of it. Always remember that a review is nothing but that reviewers opinion, so you don't have to agree or disagree with every part of it. If you really wanna know how good or bad this movie is, go see it for yourself, and let me know what you thought.
          Thanks for reading my first rambling review, and until my next, happy viewing.