Gangster Squad

This generation now has its version of The Untouchables!

After being rescheduled due to the Aurora Shooting back in July, Director Ruben Fleischer's period gangster drama finally graces the silver screen. As are my feelings with the similarily-themed The Untouchables, this is a stylish, mixed-bag of a crime drama.

In the late 1940's, Jewish mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the city of Los Angeles. Feeling that he is losing control of the City of Angels, Police Chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) assigns respected police officer John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to an off-the-books police unit created for the purpose of taking down Mickey Cohen. John uses this chance to recruit the police officers that fill the title characters: playboy Jerry Wooters, (Ryan Gosling) old-hand Max Kennard, (Robert Patrick) his younger prodigy Navidad Ramirez, (Michael Pena) street-wise detective Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie) and tech-savvy Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi).

The Gangster Squad begin disrupting Mickey Cohen's operations while Mickey struggles to find out who is responsible. During this time, conflicts arise between John and his pregnant wife Connie (Mireille Enos) about the dangers of the job and Jerry and Mickey's girlfriend Grace Faraday (Emma Stone) who begin a dangerous affair.

There is nothing in this film that hasn't been seen before, yet that doesn't make Gangster Squad all bad. The Gangster Squad is made up of cliches and all the actors bring their A-Game to these cliches. The stand-out of the Gangster Squad is Robert Patrick who really embellishes the role given and has lot of fun with it. Ryan Gosling chooses an interesting accent which initially comes off as annoying, but throughout the course of the film, the annoyance died down. Josh Brolin's John is tough as nails and doesn't offer a lot except for his determination to bring Mickey and his empire down. I will say that, although there is narration by Josh Brolin, it was welcome that the narration was sparse as Josh Brolin's tone seemed muted and not something I would want to hear throughout the film.

Which brings me to what I consider the weak links of the story. Emma Stone's Grace easily falls for Jerry, but their affection for one another comes very quick and lacks any spark or chemistry. They seemed more like friends than a real hot couple that skirts the dangers of Mickey Cohen. And speaking of Mickey Cohen, Sean Penn seems to be in a completely different film than the rest of the actors. His accent comes off as if he is struggling with it, and his emotions are much darker and violent than scenes that involve the Gangster Squad. I really enjoy Sean Penn and am glad to have seen him tackle this role, but it really doesn't gel as it should.

The comparisons with The Untouchables are very blatant and in your face. Everything from the stylized setting to the cliched character who you can pretty much tell will die to the facts being very misconstrued, this reminded me so very much of the Brian DePalma/David Mamet classic: The Untouchables. This isn't a bad thing, as I truly enjoy The Untouchables and overall, I enjoyed Gangster Squad as well.

The snappy dialogue comes doesn't fire on all cylinders like a David Mamet script and director Ruben Fleischer occasionally adds touches to liven up the scenes; especially gunfights, which he sometimes chooses to slow down and use some CGI along with the slow motion to add enhancements to what should already be action-packed scenes.

I love film noir and films set during this period, so I might be a bit biased when rating this film. As enjoyment, this is a solid, if uneven affair. A great cast and some good locations really push this film as a recommendation.

6.1/10

Ted

Alright, after two positive reviews it was bound to happen. A film that I did not like. And from the sound of it, I appear to be the only one.

Lonely child, John Bennett wishes that his teddy bear could come to life and be his friend. Surprisingly, this wish comes true over the Christmas holiday. John and Ted stay best friends even as word of Ted's miracle spread. Ted becomes a celebrity, but through it all, Ted remains a true friend to John.

Flash forward to present day, where John and Ted are still friends. They smoke weed together while watching Flash Gordon, even as John's loyal girlfriend Lori feels pushed aside. Lori is understanding of John and Ted's unusual friendship, but as in most films like this, Lori wants her relationship with John to move forward. For their relationship to go to the next level, that means separating John and Ted. The story follows Ted and John trying to separate their friendship and Ted trying to live on his own.

I know I am in the minority here, but most of Ted I did not find funny. I am a fan of Seth Macfarlane, Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis but this film just did not pull me in. It was a weird experience watching this film. I went in, really wanted to like it. A few chuckles here and there and then it ended. I walked out not hating the movie, it just did not generate many laughs from me.

This is not to say the film is entirely bad; the performances are fine and the motion capture for Ted is quite seamless. The screenplay is very haphazard and most of the jokes and surprises do not work. The structure of the film is almost as odd as it is predictable. The film follows the basic structure of most romantic comedy films as Lori wants to be married, John doesn't feel they are ready and the two of them deal with this problem until the predictable resolution occurs.

The part of the story that drew the most interest from me is a subplot involving Giovanni Ribisi. This is a hit-and-miss subplot as it is unusual and doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the script. Even more strange about this subplot is that this subplot kicks in once the main plot thread has already been resolved. The Ribisi subplot almost feels like it was forgotten and then they just stuffed it into the end of the script to resolve this plot thread.

Like I said, I appear to be the only one to not like this film. I didn't hate the film, but I think the script really wasted what was a promising idea. The effects in Ted are really well done and everyone in the film really tries their best. Judging by the box office, my review is way off balance. It's just my two cents.

3.6/10