Gangster Squad (film)
| Company type | Film |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles , United States |
| Products | Crime action thriller film |
Gangster Squad is a 2013 American crime action thriller directed by Ruben Fleischer and penned by Will Beall, inspired loosely by Paul Lieberman's nonfiction work. The cast features Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, and Sean Penn. Set in 1949, the narrative centers on an LAPD unit known as the Gangster Squad assigned to dismantle the criminal empire of mob boss Mickey Cohen.
After spending several years on the Black List, filming commenced in Los Angeles in September 2011 and continued until December. Initially scheduled for a September 7, 2012 release, Warner Bros postponed the debut to January 11, 2013 following the 2012 Aurora theater shooting. This delay permitted reshoots to excise a sequence depicting gangsters firing at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
The movie garnered mixed critical reception and achieved a global box office total of $105 million.
Plot
In Los Angeles, 1949, crime lord Mickey Cohen wields control over California’s underworld with ambitions to extend his influence along the West Coast. Efforts by the LAPD to curb his ascent have been thwarted due to his elimination of witnesses, protection from corrupt law enforcement officials, and manipulation of the judicial system. Sergeant John O'Mara, a former OSS operative, initially disrupted Cohen's prostitution operations, but Cohen reasserted dominance by silencing crucial witnesses.
LAPD Chief Bill Parker establishes a secretive undercover team led by O'Mara with the mission to dismantle Cohen’s criminal network. Operating without badges or legal oversight, this unit includes O'Mara’s pregnant wife Connie, fellow war veteran Detective Jerry Wooters, and four incorruptible officers: Lieutenant Coleman Harris, surveillance specialist Conwell Keeler, marksman Max Kennard, and rookie Navidad Ramírez.
Despite obstacles such as a casino raid being thwarted by corrupt Burbank police officers, the Squad aggressively targets Cohen’s enterprises by shutting down his illegal wire gambling operation and installing a listening device in his mansion’s television. These actions sow suspicion within Cohen’s inner circle, triggering violent reprisals including attacks on his etiquette instructor Grace Faraday.
Wooters, secretly romantically involved with Faraday, enlists gangster Jack Whalen’s help for her escape. Recognizing police tactics behind the assaults, Cohen orchestrates an ambush in Chinatown. Keeler is killed during the confrontation, and a drive-by shooting targets O'Mara’s home; Connie survives and later delivers their child. After witnessing Cohen murder Whalen, Faraday agrees to testify against him. O'Mara obtains an arrest warrant from a corrupt judge and leads the Squad in apprehending Cohen at the Park Plaza Hotel.
A brutal gunfight breaks out; Wooters and Kennard sustain injuries. Cohen and his bodyguard flee but are stopped when O'Mara crashes their vehicle into a fountain. Navidad assists Kennard in fatally shooting the bodyguard, saving O'Mara. O'Mara then engages Cohen in a violent fight before having him taken into custody, effectively ending his criminal dominance in Los Angeles.
The film concludes by noting that the Gangster Squad’s operations remained classified for many years. Cohen receives a life sentence at Alcatraz where inmates allied with Whalen assault him. Harris and Ramírez continue their partnership on patrol duty; Wooters maintains his relationship with Faraday; and O'Mara retires to enjoy a tranquil life with his family.
Filming
Principal photography commenced on September 6, 2011, in Los Angeles, utilizing various locations throughout Los Angeles County as well as the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City. The shooting wrapped up on December 15, 2011.
Theater shooting and reshoots
The initial trailer for Gangster Squad debuted in early 2012. However, after the tragic theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, in July 2012, the trailer was withdrawn from cinemas, television broadcasts, Apple's trailer platform, and YouTube. This decision was made due to a scene depicting characters firing submachine guns at moviegoers through the screen of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
In response, Warner Bros. opted to either eliminate or relocate this pivotal theater scene and arranged for additional reshoots. Consequently, the film’s release was delayed from September 2012 to January 11, 2013. On August 22, the principal cast reconvened in Los Angeles to film a revised main action sequence set in Chinatown, where gangsters launch a counterattack against the Squad. Actor Josh Brolin mentioned that the new sequence would maintain the original’s level of violence. With the original cinematographer unavailable, Caleb Deschanel was brought on to shoot these new scenes.
Box office
Gangster Squad earned $46 million across the United States and Canada and accumulated $59.2 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $105.2 million against a production budget of $60 million.
The film opened with $17.1 million domestically during its first weekend, placing third behind Zero Dark Thirty and A Haunted House. Its second weekend brought in $8.6 million (including $10.1 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday), followed by $4.3 million in its third weekend.
Home media
Warner Home Video released Gangster Squad on DVD and Blu-ray on April 23, 2013. The Blu-ray edition includes director Ruben Fleischer’s commentary as well as features exploring the true Gangster Squad and Mickey Cohen. By June 2013, home media sales had generated $9.6 million from DVDs and $6.7 million from Blu-ray discs, totaling $16.3 million in revenue.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 30% approval rating based on 204 reviews with an average score of 5/10. The critical consensus suggests that despite its stylish presentation and strong cast, Gangster Squad is hindered by weak scriptwriting, shallow character development, and excessive violence. Metacritic assigns it a score of 40 out of 100, reflecting mixed or average reviews. Audience polling by CinemaScore resulted in a "B+" grade.
While critics acknowledged the movie's visual flair, they found fault with its dialogue and character depth. Spill.com rated it as a "Rental," criticizing Emma Stone’s limited screen time and Sean Penn’s makeup effects. IGN’s Chris Tilly gave it a 6.3 out of 10, noting its appealing visuals but unfulfilled promise given the caliber of talent involved. Richard Roeper awarded it a B+, praising strong performances within this stylized pulp-fiction period drama.
Jeff Shannon of the Chicago Sun-Times, standing in for Roger Ebert, assigned it 2 out of 4 stars. He remarked that director Fleischer appeared somewhat out of his depth due to inconsistent tone and clichéd characters but commended certain action scenes like the car chase and select performances by Sean Penn.
Historical accuracy
Although the movie draws inspiration from the actual LAPD Gangster Squad, a significant portion of its content is fictionalized.
- The film shows Cohen arranging the assassination of his predecessor Jack Dragna, but in truth, Cohen merely pushed Dragna aside, who passed away from a heart attack in 1956.
- Cohen primarily operated as a bookmaker rather than engaging in prostitution and drug trafficking as portrayed; he was reportedly strongly opposed to drugs.
- William Parker was 45 years old in 1949, contrary to the film’s depiction of him being in his seventies, and he did not found the Gangster Squad; it was actually created by Chief Clemence B. Horrall in 1946 with the goal of enhancing the city's reputation.
- The movie concludes with Cohen's 1949 murder arrest and incarceration at Alcatraz, but in reality, he was imprisoned for tax evasion in 1951 and again in 1961. He was indeed assaulted with a lead pipe while incarcerated, as shown.
- The authentic Gangster Squad consisted solely of Caucasian members, unlike the film’s ethnically diverse casting, which includes Anthony Mackie and Michael Peña.
- Cohen may have been responsible for killing Jack Whalen, but not at Whalen's residence; Whalen was fatally shot in 1959 during a meal with Cohen and others, and no formal charges were filed against Cohen.
- Bodyguard Johnny Stompanato survived beyond the events depicted in the film and died in 1958 after being stabbed by Lana Turner's daughter, Cheryl Crane.
- The character Max Kennard is inspired by law enforcement officer Doug "Jumbo" Kennard, who died in a car accident related to alcohol after retiring, rather than being killed on duty as portrayed.
- Conwell Keeler, shown as the first member of the Squad to be killed, actually outlived all his colleagues and passed away from a stroke in 2012.