Gangster Squad

Notorious Los Angeles gangster Mickey Cohen has been portrayed by several actors over the years, including Harvey Keitel, Oscar-nominated for his role in Bugsy. Now Sean Penn plays the boxer-turned-mobster—here, as a cold, ruthless psychopath who is the kingpin of drugs, gaming, and prostitution on the West Coast. In 1949, LAPD Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin), a no-nonsense WWII combat vet, decided to take down Cohen, assembling an undercover “Gangster Squad” of renegade officers handpicked by his worried, pregnant wife, Connie (Mireille Enos), and authorized by crusading Chief William Parker (Nick Nolte). The team includes an electronics whiz (Giovanni Ribisi), a street enforcer (Anthony Mackie), a grizzled sharp-shooter (Robert Patrick) and his apprentice (Michael Peña), and a cocky, womanizing rebel (Ryan Gosling) who falls for Cohen's moll (Emma Stone) as they're waging guerrilla warfare. Adapted from Paul Lieberman's Los Angeles Times articles, this violently sensationalistic melodrama—directed with an astonishing lack of subtlety by Ruben Fleischer—is slick, synthetic, cartoonish schlock, filled with broadly caricatured performances that bear only a passing resemblance to historical truth. The real-life Cohen was known to be charismatic, charming the celebrated film colony along with journalists and politicians with parties at his Brentwood mansion. A garish, bullet-riddled, forgettable flick, this is optional, at best. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the production featurette “Tough Guys with Style” (5 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an audio commentary by director Ruben Fleischer, “The Gangland Files” picture-in-picture track with behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews, a “Rogues' Gallery: Mickey Cohen” featurette on the real-life gangster (47 min.), “The Set-Up” behind-the-scenes featurettes (46 min. total), a “Then and Now Locations” featurette (8 min.), deleted scenes (12 min.), and bonus DVD and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)