Gangster Squad

When this film was first announced way back when, there was a fair amount of buzz that this film would be true oscar contender. Yet following the Colorado tragedy in August 2012, Gangster Squad found itself pushed back to January (the graveyard slot in US cinema calendars) and suffered extensive reshoots. The reviews when it was finally released were less than so-so. Yet watching free of the storm, Gangster Squad is confident fun, if entirely unexceptional.

It is about as historically accurate as U-571 and not a single female character is provided anything resembling an identity, but fortunately neither are the men. Ryan Gosling has a high-pitched voice. Josh Brolin is dedicated to justice. The rest of the team are there to virtually tick every box required for an action film team (old timer, family man, hard case black guy, Michael Peña). All play their roles exactly as they should be, as caricatures. Its tone flails wildly between hardened crime odyssey and silly cartoon fun. But that is to miss the point.

This film exists to purely entertain and it does. It is a cops vs. robbers movie, and is boldly presented that way. Visually, it dazzles. Shot on digital, everyone and everything in it looks stunning. Costumes and sets are truly works of art at times. Suits are sharp, dresses seduce and sets sparkle. Unlike Public Enemies, the digital style never distracts or irritates. You get to really take in the recreated 1940s Los Angeles, before it is shot up. Emma Stone and Gosling flirting back and forth at a bar is arguably the most aesthetic sequence ever committed to film. They shine as do their surroundings. The action, as well, is competent and old fashioned. No shaky cameras here. Every shot is well orchestrated and composed.

There are some really nice touches. Minor characters are not dispatched in blink-and-its-over moments we are accustomed to, and it is truly refreshing. In movies of this type, smaller characters (despite veterans of law enforcement and organised crime) never seem to have any grit to them. Here, when cornered, they fight back, and properly. That alone raises it above most others. It isn't really enough to recommend the film but makes for an interesting footnote.

The true criticism of the film is not how by-the-numbers it all is (by minute three, you know the next two hours perfectly). It is the way the production chose to rewrite American social politics. It ignores the overwhelming racism and segregation raging at the time within the country which is just plain offensive. It merely choses to forget it, like we will with the film about an hour after watching.

One of those films you will say is good when you hear its name. But no-one will remember Gangster Squad in the first place.