It's 1949, and while the war might be over, soldier turned-cop John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) still has a fight on his hands. Mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) has Los Angeles in his power: gambling rackets, brothels, bent cops and murder blight the city, all under the watchful barrel of his merciless Tommy gun.
After single-handedly shutting down one of Cohen's whorehouses, O'Mara is granted an audience with the police chief (Nick Nolte) and ordered to form a gang of cops that will wage a guerrilla war against the mobster. Accepting, he gathers smooth-tongued Wooters (Ryan Gosling), genius ex-intelligence officer Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi), tough street cop Harris (Anthony Mackie), legendary shooter Kennard (Robert Patrick) and his sidekick Ramirez (Michael Peña), and together they go out to shatter Cohen's grip on the city.
Slick lines, classy costumes and some menacing gurning from Penn colour this enjoyable feature, which brings the violence and drama hard and fast. While it lacks the finesse of L.A. Confidential or the artistry of The Untouchables, the movie still has plenty going for it and draws decent moments from a sparkling line-up of Hollywood stars, with Gosling the pick of the bunch.
Gangster Squad is a Film programme that first aired in 2013 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
