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Wide Screen‘Gangster Squad’ trailer takes viewers back to gritty, 1940s Los Angeles
It's a dark and stormy night in the City of Angels -- that is, in the first trailer for director Ruben Fleischer's hard-boiled crime noir "Gangster Squad." The film follows a group of LAPD officers -- led by Detective John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) -- who are tasked with keeping mobsters from the eastern United States out of Los Angeles. One such hood is Brooklyn-born Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), a real-life former East Coast enforcer who became the so-called "Sunset Kingpin" of L.A.
Think of the movie as a West Coast version of "The Untouchables," with Ryan Gosling filling in for Andy Garcia as the hot-headed rookie. Check out the "Gangster Squad" trailer below.
With mugs like those, it's amazing that Brolin and Penn haven't played 1940s cops and crooks before. The pair looks like they were practically born to hold Tommy guns and spout pulpy dialogue. With Nick Nolte in the mix, you've got a movie full of some seriously distinguished kissers -- exactly what a film noir like this needs.
However, Gosling may again steal the show, partly because he's one of the only male cast members whose face doesn't look like it was run over by a truck. In a role that may seem familiar to fans of "Drive," Gosling plays a charming but detached loner with a penchant for violence. The Canadian actor's distinctive parlance, out of place in many of his films, seems perfectly suited for the mean streets of 1940s Los Angeles.
In addition to the already bang-up cast, the film stars Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick, and Giovanni Ribisi. And what's a film noir without a femme fatale? "Gangster Squad" reunites Gosling with his "Crazy Stupid Love" co-star Emma Stone.
Director Fleischer may have knocked it out of the park with his debut film, "Zombieland," but his follow-up, "30 Minutes or Less," was a swing and a miss. Hopefully, "Gangster Squad" will be see the filmmaker reach his previous level of success.
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