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Gangster Squad

Play trailer Poster for Gangster Squad R Released Jan 11, 2013 1h 50m Crime Drama Action Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
30% Tomatometer 204 Reviews 57% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) has 1949 Los Angeles in an iron fist, as he accumulates a fortune from drugs, prostitution and gambling. Cohen has an army of paid goons at his disposal, but he also has certain policemen and politicians in his pocket. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest cop, until Los Angeles Police Department mavericks, Sgts. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), form a secret crew to bring Cohen to justice.
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Gangster Squad

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Critics Consensus

Though it's stylish and features a talented cast, Gangster Squad suffers from lackluster writing, underdeveloped characters, and an excessive amount of violence.

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Critics Reviews

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Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online It's a lazy, watered down gangster flick that is not nearly as clever or as new as it attempts to be. Rated: D+ Sep 7, 2017 Full Review Larushka Ivan-Zadeh metro.co.uk Gangster Squad is slight pulp fiction that offers all-out, balls-to-the-wall action riddled with as many clichés as bullets. Rated: 3/5 Sep 1, 2017 Full Review Jason Bailey Flavorwire Those who are calling it shallow and cartoony and clichéd are missing the point. It is all of those things, purposefully - gleefully, even. Jun 21, 2016 Full Review Michael Leader Den of Geek It may look pretty, and it may act tough, but Gangster Squad is as dumb as they come. Rated: 2/5 May 3, 2024 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review What a shame that such a talented cast of actors, not to mention the attractive costumes and gorgeous production design, go to waste on this all-too-familiar story. Rated: 2/4 Sep 20, 2022 Full Review James Croot Stuff.co.nz [A] depressingly by-the-numbers script. Rated: 2.5/5 Mar 30, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Shioka O Just give some stars for those amazing casts. Seems like all materials are right but not quite -maybe because of the amount of violence and how it's been showcased. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/24/24 Full Review Bradley G Gangster Squad really shows the different aspect of allegiance to the badge as the storyline isn't great but the acting makes it a good squad. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/25/24 Full Review Blu B It's alright. Ever seen The Untouchables? Than you've seen this. Everything is just alright about it overall. They nail the 49' asetics, it's pretty simple to follow, and nothing is broken overall. Sean Penn as the villian suprisngly is just alright. He feels like he's trying to hard and not a natural bad guy. He never feels larger than life and a bit on the whiny side if anything. Gosling also is alright but man it feels like I'm never sure what his character is supposed to be. Sometimes he's the comedic relief, the best friend, other times he feels too soft spoken and borderline miscast, sometimes the main focus, and other times I don't even know. It feels like the plot would happen without him but he gets a big chunk of focus with Stone who also is just alright. The Squad is alright and doesn't get that much focus so they end up blending in despite being somewhat memorable ont heir own. Brolin is solid and the best thing in this. But there is large chunks where he just disappears and despite being setup as the main guy it feels like he 's only that maybe 50% of the time. The editing in this first half isn't that sharp either. The slow motion is a bit overused, it feels like stuff just happens a bit when hitting Cohen, and the way they get each member of the squad on at a time is sloppy. It does get better in the second half thank god. This did feel like in the middle it was going the wrong way and just meandering. The direction also isn't anything special. Main problem is the lighting is so dull and in lots of shots it's so dark you can barely see it. Basic camerawork also. The music is super boring and forgettable also. It sounds like every Hans Zimmer track you've ever heard. Most people should skip this and watch The Untouchables instead. Way better in every way. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/14/24 Full Review Alexander W Good cast, awful movie. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 09/21/24 Full Review Tom S Reviews made me think to not watch it until one person said to not take it literally but somewhat of a comic book with all the posing & dialogue meant to be stereotypical of the genre. Yes "over the top" at times but done so deliberately. Just shift your mind from what you expect & enjoy the pulp fiction ride. Quality, classy... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/15/24 Full Review Freddie G I enjoyed it it had great acting and an amazing cast Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/09/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) has 1949 Los Angeles in an iron fist, as he accumulates a fortune from drugs, prostitution and gambling. Cohen has an army of paid goons at his disposal, but he also has certain policemen and politicians in his pocket. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest cop, until Los Angeles Police Department mavericks, Sgts. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), form a secret crew to bring Cohen to justice.
Director
Ruben Fleischer
Producer
Dan Lin, Kevin McCormick, Michael Tadross
Screenwriter
Will Beall
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Lin Pictures, Warner Bros., Kevin McCormick
Rating
R (Strong Violence|Language)
Genre
Crime, Drama, Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 11, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$46.0M
Runtime
1h 50m
Sound Mix
Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital
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