GANGSTER SQUAD
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and -- if he has his way -- every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control.
It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop...except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart. Gangster Squad is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD's efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time.
Genre: Drama
Original Theatrical Date: January 11, 2013
Rotten Tomatoes™ Score
31% 57%
Gangster Squad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 2013 film. For the real crime fighting unit on which the film is based, see Gangster Squad (LAPD).
Gangster Squad
Gangster Squad Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Produced by
Dan Lin
Kevin McCormick
Michael Tadross
Screenplay by Will Beall
Based on Tales from the Gangster Squad
by Paul Lieberman
Starring
Sean Penn
Josh Brolin
Ryan Gosling
Nick Nolte
Emma Stone
Music by Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography Dion Beebe
Edited by
Alan Baumgarten
James Herbert
Production
company
Village Roadshow Pictures
Lin Pictures
Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)[1]
Release dates
January 11, 2013 (United States)
Running time
113 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $60 million[3][4]
Box office $105.2 million[4]
Gangster Squad is a 2013 American crime film directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Will Beall. It stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, and Sean Penn.
The story is loosely based on the Los Angeles Police Department officers and detectives who formed a group called the "Gangster Squad unit" who attempted to combat Mickey Cohen and his gang during the 1940s and 1950s. It was originally set to be released September 7, 2012,[5] but in the wake of the 2012 Aurora shooting, the release date was changed to January 11, 2013 by Warner Bros. Pictures.[6] When in fact the film, the characters, and the events are mostly fictionalized, the LAPD did have a unit called the "Gangster Squad" which was created when Clemence B. Horrall was the LAPD's Chief of Police.[7] A similar theme is the basis of a 1996 film, Mulholland Falls, which Nolte also appeared in, and a 2013 television miniseries, Mob City.
Plot[edit]
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (September 2015)
In 1949 Los Angeles, gangster Mickey Cohen wants to control all organized crime and argues with local mobster Jack Dragna that they should not allow the East coast mafia to run the town. Meanwhile, LAPD Detective Sergeant John "Sarge" O'Mara raids a Cohen-owned brothel to save a woman from being raped, gaining the attention of Police Chief Bill Parker. Parker believes that more drastic measures need to be taken against men like Cohen, and tasks O'Mara to begin waging a guerrilla campaign against the mobsters. He tells O'Mara (a former OSS commando during World War II) to use his special operations training, learned at Camp X during World War II, and to select a small team that will work without badges or official support from the police.
O'Mara's pregnant wife Connie suggests choosing unorthodox veterans like himself, as young high-performers would likely already be on Cohen's payroll. With Connie's help, O'Mara selects a small squad of cops: street officer Coleman Harris, wiretap expert Conwell Keeler, gunslinger and sharpshooter Max Kennard, and Kennard's partner Navidad "Christmas" Ramirez. O'Mara also attempts to recruit his partner Sergeant Jerry Wooters, but Wooters has become lazy and complacent in his job and refuses. Wooters keeps in touch with childhood friend Jack Whalen, who provides him with information on Cohen. Wooters also meets and begins a secret relationship with Cohen's etiquette tutor Grace Faraday.
The squad's first mission is to bust up an illegal Cohen casino in Burbank, California, but things quickly go bad as O'Mara and Harris are captured by corrupt Burbank police who were guarding the casino. Wooters has a change of heart after witnessing the death of a young boy he had been helping out and attempts to shoot Cohen. Whalen stops him and tells him that O'Mara is going to be turned over to Cohen, prompting Wooters to rescue the men from the Burbank jail. Deciding that they need more information on Cohen's operations, Wooters and Keeler break into Cohen's house and place an illegal wiretap inside his TV. The men are seen sneaking out by Grace, who agrees to keep their secret.
Using the information from the wiretap, the group conducts several successful raids on Cohen operations. After a particularly violent raid on a Cohen drug shipment, Keeler begins to question what they are doing but is re-assured by O'Mara. The media begins referring to the men as "The Gangster Squad", and Cohen pushes his men to find out who they are. Keeler deduces that Cohen is building a large wire gambling business somewhere in town, and warns O'Mara that if they don't take it out before it becomes operational Cohen will become too big for even them to stop. Keeler uses wire transmissions to locate the building, and the squad wipes it out. An enraged Cohen realizes that the Gangster Squad must be honest cops when he discovers that none of his money was stolen.
Cohen suspects that his house is bugged and begins searching for the tap. Grace overhears Cohen and fears that he knows about her relationship with Wooters. With the help of a maid, Grace escapes Cohen's house and meets Wooters, who takes her to Whalen and tasks him with getting her out of town. Cohen finds the bug and begins feeding false information to Keeler. Cohen lures the Gangster Squad into a trap in Chinatown, but Wooters arrives in time to alert the men to the trap. While the men are distracted in Chinatown, Cohen hits several targets himself. Cohen's bodyguard Karl Lockwood finds Keeler's listening post and kills him while Cohen, Johnny Stomp, and Neddy Herbert go to Whalen's looking for Grace. Cohen murders Whalen in front of Grace, who hides from him. O'Mara's house is hit by a drive-by shooting, the stress of which causes Connie to give birth to their son in their bathtub.
Grace agrees to testify against Cohen for the murder of Whalen, and O'Mara uses her testimony to get a warrant for Cohen's arrest. The squad arrives at Cohen's hotel to arrest him and an intense firefight breaks out, killing Herbert in the process. Wooters and Kennard are wounded, while Cohen and Lockwood escape. O'Mara pursues them down the block, assisted by a mortally wounded Kennard and his sharpshooting skill. Kennard, with the help of Ramirez, shoots Lockwood just before he dies and O'Mara and Cohen engage in a brutal fistfight that ends with O'Mara eventually beating Cohen to his knees. As a crowd gathers, a bloodied O'Mara walks away and Cohen is arrested for Whalen's murder.
As Chief Parker had told them, the Gangster Squad is never credited in taking down Cohen. Grace's testimony ensures Cohen is sentenced to 25 to life at Alcatraz, where he is welcomed violently by Whalen's friends. Grace and Wooters stay together and he stays on the force, while Ramirez and Harris become partners on the beat. Ramirez is shown patrolling with Kennard's signature Colt Single Action Army on his hip. O'Mara quits to live a quiet life in Los Angeles with Connie and their son.
Cast[edit]
Josh Brolin as Sergeant John O'Mara
Ryan Gosling as Sergeant Jerry Wooters
Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen
Nick Nolte as Chief Bill Parker
Emma Stone as Grace Faraday
Anthony Mackie as Officer Coleman Harris
Giovanni Ribisi as Officer Conwell Keeler
Michael Peña as Officer Navidad "Christmas" Ramirez
Robert Patrick as Officer Max Kennard
Mireille Enos as Connie O'Mara
Sullivan Stapleton as Jack Whalen
Holt McCallany as Karl Lockwood
Josh Pence as Daryl Gates
Austin Abrams as Pete
Jon Polito as Jack Dragna
James Hébert as Mitch Racine
John Aylward as Judge Carter
Troy Garity as Wrevock
James Carpinello as Johnny Stompanato
Frank Grillo as Tommy Russo
Jonny Coyne as Grimes
Jack McGee as Lieutenant Quincannon
Evan Jones as Neddy Herbert
Tanner Gill as Hooky Rothman
Christopher Doyle as Edgar Beaumont
Max Daniels as Jeffrey Clark
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and -- if he has his way -- every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control.
It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop...except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart. Gangster Squad is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD's efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time.
Genre: Drama
Original Theatrical Date: January 11, 2013
Rotten Tomatoes™ Score
31% 57%
Gangster Squad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 2013 film. For the real crime fighting unit on which the film is based, see Gangster Squad (LAPD).
Gangster Squad
Gangster Squad Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Produced by
Dan Lin
Kevin McCormick
Michael Tadross
Screenplay by Will Beall
Based on Tales from the Gangster Squad
by Paul Lieberman
Starring
Sean Penn
Josh Brolin
Ryan Gosling
Nick Nolte
Emma Stone
Music by Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography Dion Beebe
Edited by
Alan Baumgarten
James Herbert
Production
company
Village Roadshow Pictures
Lin Pictures
Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)[1]
Release dates
January 11, 2013 (United States)
Running time
113 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $60 million[3][4]
Box office $105.2 million[4]
Gangster Squad is a 2013 American crime film directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Will Beall. It stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, and Sean Penn.
The story is loosely based on the Los Angeles Police Department officers and detectives who formed a group called the "Gangster Squad unit" who attempted to combat Mickey Cohen and his gang during the 1940s and 1950s. It was originally set to be released September 7, 2012,[5] but in the wake of the 2012 Aurora shooting, the release date was changed to January 11, 2013 by Warner Bros. Pictures.[6] When in fact the film, the characters, and the events are mostly fictionalized, the LAPD did have a unit called the "Gangster Squad" which was created when Clemence B. Horrall was the LAPD's Chief of Police.[7] A similar theme is the basis of a 1996 film, Mulholland Falls, which Nolte also appeared in, and a 2013 television miniseries, Mob City.
Plot[edit]
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (September 2015)
In 1949 Los Angeles, gangster Mickey Cohen wants to control all organized crime and argues with local mobster Jack Dragna that they should not allow the East coast mafia to run the town. Meanwhile, LAPD Detective Sergeant John "Sarge" O'Mara raids a Cohen-owned brothel to save a woman from being raped, gaining the attention of Police Chief Bill Parker. Parker believes that more drastic measures need to be taken against men like Cohen, and tasks O'Mara to begin waging a guerrilla campaign against the mobsters. He tells O'Mara (a former OSS commando during World War II) to use his special operations training, learned at Camp X during World War II, and to select a small team that will work without badges or official support from the police.
O'Mara's pregnant wife Connie suggests choosing unorthodox veterans like himself, as young high-performers would likely already be on Cohen's payroll. With Connie's help, O'Mara selects a small squad of cops: street officer Coleman Harris, wiretap expert Conwell Keeler, gunslinger and sharpshooter Max Kennard, and Kennard's partner Navidad "Christmas" Ramirez. O'Mara also attempts to recruit his partner Sergeant Jerry Wooters, but Wooters has become lazy and complacent in his job and refuses. Wooters keeps in touch with childhood friend Jack Whalen, who provides him with information on Cohen. Wooters also meets and begins a secret relationship with Cohen's etiquette tutor Grace Faraday.
The squad's first mission is to bust up an illegal Cohen casino in Burbank, California, but things quickly go bad as O'Mara and Harris are captured by corrupt Burbank police who were guarding the casino. Wooters has a change of heart after witnessing the death of a young boy he had been helping out and attempts to shoot Cohen. Whalen stops him and tells him that O'Mara is going to be turned over to Cohen, prompting Wooters to rescue the men from the Burbank jail. Deciding that they need more information on Cohen's operations, Wooters and Keeler break into Cohen's house and place an illegal wiretap inside his TV. The men are seen sneaking out by Grace, who agrees to keep their secret.
Using the information from the wiretap, the group conducts several successful raids on Cohen operations. After a particularly violent raid on a Cohen drug shipment, Keeler begins to question what they are doing but is re-assured by O'Mara. The media begins referring to the men as "The Gangster Squad", and Cohen pushes his men to find out who they are. Keeler deduces that Cohen is building a large wire gambling business somewhere in town, and warns O'Mara that if they don't take it out before it becomes operational Cohen will become too big for even them to stop. Keeler uses wire transmissions to locate the building, and the squad wipes it out. An enraged Cohen realizes that the Gangster Squad must be honest cops when he discovers that none of his money was stolen.
Cohen suspects that his house is bugged and begins searching for the tap. Grace overhears Cohen and fears that he knows about her relationship with Wooters. With the help of a maid, Grace escapes Cohen's house and meets Wooters, who takes her to Whalen and tasks him with getting her out of town. Cohen finds the bug and begins feeding false information to Keeler. Cohen lures the Gangster Squad into a trap in Chinatown, but Wooters arrives in time to alert the men to the trap. While the men are distracted in Chinatown, Cohen hits several targets himself. Cohen's bodyguard Karl Lockwood finds Keeler's listening post and kills him while Cohen, Johnny Stomp, and Neddy Herbert go to Whalen's looking for Grace. Cohen murders Whalen in front of Grace, who hides from him. O'Mara's house is hit by a drive-by shooting, the stress of which causes Connie to give birth to their son in their bathtub.
Grace agrees to testify against Cohen for the murder of Whalen, and O'Mara uses her testimony to get a warrant for Cohen's arrest. The squad arrives at Cohen's hotel to arrest him and an intense firefight breaks out, killing Herbert in the process. Wooters and Kennard are wounded, while Cohen and Lockwood escape. O'Mara pursues them down the block, assisted by a mortally wounded Kennard and his sharpshooting skill. Kennard, with the help of Ramirez, shoots Lockwood just before he dies and O'Mara and Cohen engage in a brutal fistfight that ends with O'Mara eventually beating Cohen to his knees. As a crowd gathers, a bloodied O'Mara walks away and Cohen is arrested for Whalen's murder.
As Chief Parker had told them, the Gangster Squad is never credited in taking down Cohen. Grace's testimony ensures Cohen is sentenced to 25 to life at Alcatraz, where he is welcomed violently by Whalen's friends. Grace and Wooters stay together and he stays on the force, while Ramirez and Harris become partners on the beat. Ramirez is shown patrolling with Kennard's signature Colt Single Action Army on his hip. O'Mara quits to live a quiet life in Los Angeles with Connie and their son.
Cast[edit]
Josh Brolin as Sergeant John O'Mara
Ryan Gosling as Sergeant Jerry Wooters
Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen
Nick Nolte as Chief Bill Parker
Emma Stone as Grace Faraday
Anthony Mackie as Officer Coleman Harris
Giovanni Ribisi as Officer Conwell Keeler
Michael Peña as Officer Navidad "Christmas" Ramirez
Robert Patrick as Officer Max Kennard
Mireille Enos as Connie O'Mara
Sullivan Stapleton as Jack Whalen
Holt McCallany as Karl Lockwood
Josh Pence as Daryl Gates
Austin Abrams as Pete
Jon Polito as Jack Dragna
James Hébert as Mitch Racine
John Aylward as Judge Carter
Troy Garity as Wrevock
James Carpinello as Johnny Stompanato
Frank Grillo as Tommy Russo
Jonny Coyne as Grimes
Jack McGee as Lieutenant Quincannon
Evan Jones as Neddy Herbert
Tanner Gill as Hooky Rothman
Christopher Doyle as Edgar Beaumont
Max Daniels as Jeffrey Clark
