Movies: Gangster Squad

If we believe Hollywood then in the year 1949 Los Angeles was ruled by a ruthless gangster boss. There was no law enforcement because that criminal had bribed almost all cops. The police chief of LA assigned an undercover squad of remaining honest cops and ordered them to fight the criminal organization beyond the rules of law.

The movie "Gangster Squad" narates this fight (imdb). The flick is a typical industrial product from Hollywood`s factory. The producers created a melange of cop, buddy, Western and boxer movie and borrowed from a lot of other genre films especially from "Mulholland Falls" (imdb), "L.A. Confidential" (imdb) and maybe also from classics like "A Fistful of Dollars" (wikipedia) which is based on a Samurai film. If you have seen a lot of those genre flicks "Gangster Squad" could give you many déjà vu impressions. As a tribute to modern action cinema the makers spiced their produce with some brutally and a pinch of gore.

The solid cinematography accompanied by proper production design, art direction & set decoration granted "Gangster Squad" a hip nostalgic patina. The performance of the participating army of solid Hollywood actors also is flawless. Sean Penn as the brutal gangster boss and Nick Nolte as the aging and now heavy weighted L.A. police chief are worth their money, but the exquisite Emma Stone is culpable underemployed.

"Gangster Squad" could be a passable entertainment but will be forgotten soon.