Gangster Squad

"No names. No badges. No mercy."

2013 1h 53m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 4,346

CrimeDramaActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen 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 and Jerry Wooters who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.

“No names. No badges. No mercy.”

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Cast

Josh Brolin
John O'Mara
Ryan Gosling
Sgt. Jerry Wooters
Sean Penn
Mickey Cohen
Nick Nolte
Bill Parker
Emma Stone
Grace Faraday
Anthony Mackie
Coleman Harris
Giovanni Ribisi
Conway Keeler
Robert Patrick
Max Kennard

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writers: Will Beall
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

362+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ruben Fleischer, shot by Dion Beebe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Steve Jablonsky. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alan Baumgarten shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "No names. No badges. No mercy.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ruben Fleischer directs. Dion Beebe behind the camera. Steve Jablonsky scores. Alan Baumgarten cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 13 years ago.
3362+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Ruben Fleischer, shot by Dion Beebe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Steve Jablonsky. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Alan Baumgarten shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "No names. No badges. No mercy.".
9IMDB entry: tt1321870 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dion Beebe
Original score: Steve Jablonsky
Editing: Alan Baumgarten
Production design: Maher Ahmad
Costume design: Mary Zophres
Makeup / hair: Fríða Aradóttir
VFX supervisor: Paul Graff
Sound: Dean A. Zupancic
Stunt coordinator: Brian Machleit
Runtime: 113 min · 1h 53m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $60,000,000
Box office: $105,200,000
Return: 175% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Gangster Squad (2013)

Also by

Ruben Fleischer

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-03-09
★ 6.5/10
Rat-a-tat-tat! Gangster Squad is directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Will Beal. It stars Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Patrick and Michael Pena. Music is by Steve Jablonski and cinematography by Dion Beebee. Los Angeles is being brought to its knees by crime boss Mickey Cohen (Penn). In one of the darkened offices of the police department, a special squad of officers is being assembled. Given free licence to bring Cohen and his operations down by any means necessary, the Gangster Squad fight fir with fire. Loosely based on real life facts, Gangster Squad is a good old slice of machine gun etiquette. An all star cast get to play good guys and wise guys in The Untouchables tradition, even if that in itself can’t quite lift the film to the higher echelons of gangster movies past and present. There’s absolutely nothing new here, it plays out as expected. Brolin and Gosling are the main smooth operators in the good guys camp, the former given the family man in danger sub-plot, the latter given the dangerous dame to fall in love with in the shapely form of Emma Stone, who as it happens is also dating Cohen! hmm... Over in the wise guys department is Penn on full tilt sweary and hammy overdrive. It’s a very colourful portrayal, menacing and completely over the top. How the performance sits with you will greatly depend on how you find Penn as an actor when let loose on a cartoon characterisation. It’s all very period pleasing, with a bustling late 40s L.A. hosting men with hats, trench coats and tommy-guns. Men who frequent the speakeasy bars as torch singers warble their stuff. There is nothing wrong with the production at all, except maybe when the dialogue veers to clunky. The action scenes are well crafted, loud, bloody and exciting, and the photography sparkles and the music soars. If only the makers had put some thought into it, a bit of brains to go with the brawn. As a comic book type gangster piece, it works well on entertainment terms, elsewhere its lightweight and formula compliant , with the Ribisi, Patrick and Pena characters telegraphed a mile away. So, quite some way away from the great The Untouchables then, but better than Mullholland Falls. Make of that what you will. 6.5/10

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