Gangster Squad Review

I'm kind of a sucker for period pieces, I always find it really interesting how different directors try and capture the feeling of a different time. This movie sounded like a great premise when I heard about it a while back (probably like 2011), I thought it would be a lot like L.A. Confidential, but with a true story twist to it. Then I saw the trailer and was slightly less excited, but still pumped. I mean, it has a great cast in Gosling, Stone, Brolin, Penn and Nolte, and a great concept. How could it go wrong? Sadly, they found a way.

I think one of the biggest problems with this movie lies in it's script. This is Will Beall's first feature film script, after working on the TV show Castle for two years. I absolutely love Castle, especially some of Beall's episodes, so I saw promise there. I'm sorry to report that Beall's script was a pile of flaming dog shit. None of the dialogue was believable, and none of the characters were developed, not to mention there were no clear character motivations (save for one or two of them.) And the story was so disjointed at times that I wanted to punch the screen. The real sad part was that these amazing actors were brought in for this film and did a great job with what they were given, but had no where to go with it. None of these characters developed over the excruciating 113 min run time. I really think Beall needs to stick to writing television shows and leave the screenwriting to the professionals.

While the script was abysmal, nothing else in the film was "gouge your eyes out" terrible. The direction was nothing special, but it did shine during some of the action scenes (especially the car chase.) The score seemed contrived and almost over did the period piece music. I would like to have seen a more competent composer at the helm, instead of the guy who is only known for Transformers (which isn't bad, just not impressive.) He really dropped the ball here, where he could have really shined.

The real saving grace of this film is the acting (but not all of it.) Even though the dialogue is stale and the characters are underdeveloped, I thought that several of the actors did a great job. I should probably preface this next statement by saying: I really don't care for Sean Penn. I thought he was really good in Mystic River and Milk, but that's about it. That being said, I thought he was fucking awesome in this movie. I fully expected him to be the worst part of this movie, overacting as he usually does, but I was wrong. He really blew me away. Giovanni Ribisi was also great (though he didn't get nearly enough screen time.) His character was definitely my favorite, but was severely underused. 

Now I guess I should cover the bad acting. I was really disappointed with Emma Stone in this movie. I love her in almost everything, but she really fell flat in this film. Every time she came on screen, I just wanted that scene to end as soon as possible. And her chemistry with Ryan Gosling in this movie was no where to be found. What happened to Crazy, Stupid, Love? I loved them together in that movie, and then they did this. So disappointing. And Josh Brolin really let me down. He was just kind of...there. Not bad, not good. 

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I'm not sure how to sum this movie up without making it sound like the worst movie ever made. So...yea. Don't see this movie. It's not even worth it for the copious number of action scenes. If it is worth it for anything, it's Sean Penn's performance. But I definitely wouldn't waste my money.

Writing: 1/10

Directing: 5/10

Acting: 6.5/10

Pacing: 5/10

Rewatchability: 0/10

Score: 3.5/10