Review #1,284: 'Detroit' (2017)

For her latest feature, following 2008's Oscar winner The Hurt Locker and 2012's Zero Dark Thirty, visionary director Kathryn Bigelow takes us to a different war-zone altogether, the 1967 Detroit riots. While it lacks the nerve-racking tension of the Iraq-set The Hurt Locker and the engrossing detail of the hunt for, capture and execution of Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty, Detroit lays bare police brutality and civil unrest with all the discomfort of a well-made horror movie, as the paths of various characters caught up in the chaos sweeping the city lead to the Algiers Motel, where many are about to experience the most traumatic experience of their lives, and for some, the last experience they will ever have.

Bigelow attempts to contextualise the central incident by depicting the roots of the rioting: An illegal blind pig in a black Detroit community is raided by predominantly white police, who take an unnecessarily heavy-handed approach to rounding up the bar's inhabitants. A small crowd quickly starts to gather outside, and soon enough the police are being driven out of the area, and neighbourhood shops are being destroyed and looted. Both the Army and National Guard are brought in to bring the troubles under control, while Detroit police hunt down any looters hoping to go unnoticed in the crowds. It's a good thirty minutes before we reach the Motel, and this time is spent establishing the various characters who will become major players later on. These characters are painted in broad strokes, but it's effective enough in establishing the kind of world they inhibit, and why they have good reason to fear the sight of a policeman, innocent or not.

At the film's heart is Melvin Dismukes (John Boyega), a security guard caught somewhere in between two worlds. He is a figure of authority and takes his job incredibly seriously, but he's also black in an institution made up of mainly white folks, so he finds himself also having to toe the line when dealing with officers clearly harbouring racist feelings. There's also Larry Reed (Algee Smith), the lead singer of R&B group The Dramatics, whose big-break concert is cancelled because of the riots. Larry takes his friend Fred Temple (Jacob Latimore) to the Algiers Motel to lay low while the riots calm down, and the two pass the time by chatting to two girls (played by Hannah Murray and Kaitlyn Dever). The girls are actually prostitutes, and the group wind up caught up in a prank involving firing a blank-shooting starter pistol at the police through the window. Believing to be under attack from a sniper, the police and National Guard storm the Motel and begin a night of humiliation and terror for those simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At the Motel, cop and baby-faced bigot Krauss (Will Poulter) starts to systematically strip away the humanity of the residents, using everything from intimidation, violence and mind-games to find the lethal weapon that doesn't exist. Flanked by Ben O'Toole and Jack Reynor, Poulter is magnificent, digging deep to somehow find a shred of humanity in a character so inherently evil. As is Boyega, who manages to hit you with a gut-punch during the final act as the seriousness of the situation - and his role in it - suddenly overwhelms him. The film goes on to detail the immediate aftermath and the subsequent trial of the three police officers, bringing in an unnerving slimy John Krasinski as the defence. At just shy of two and a half hours, Detroit feels overlong despite Bigelow's best efforts to keep the film moving at a pace. The final half hour could have been wrapped up in text, but it does pay testament to the survivors, some of whom were left with mental scars from which they would never fully recover. Detroit's real power stems from the harrowing, maddening centrepiece at the Algiers, a terrible abuse of power not terribly different from some of the news stories we still hear about today.


Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore, Hannah Murray, Kaitlyn Dever, Ben O'Toole, Jack Reynor, Anthony Mackie, John Krasinski
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,035: 'Triple 9' (2016)

Boasting an enormously talented ensemble cast and a multi-layered story of corruption and greed set in the murky criminal world of the Russian mafia in Atlanta, John Hillcoat's Triple 9 has the ambition of Michael Mann's Heat (1995) but neither the scope or the running-time to convincingly pull it off. Telling the tale of a gang of hardened criminals and bent coppers coming together to pull of a heist, and then another, to save the skin of a brutal Russian mafia boss, it is hardly the most original entry into the crime genre, but manages to sneak a pass thanks to some splendid visuals and Hillcoat's signature brutality that gives the film a unique, raw edge.

Two cops - Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie) and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.) - and three criminals - gang leader Michael Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and brothers Russell (Norman Reedus) and Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul) - come together to rob a bank in order to retrieve a security deposit box containing evidence against the husband of mafia boss Irina (Kate Winslet). After a narrow escape, they are refused payment and are ordered to pull off another job to again retrieve data on Irina's husband. The job is near-impossible, so the gang come up with an idea of triggering a 'triple 9' call, which involves all police responding to an 'officer down' and heading to the location of the incident, therefore diverting all attention away from them. Marcus's new partner Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), a bullheaded new recruit quickly making enemies with the Mexican gangs, is chosen as the ideal candidate.

There's an undeniable star power to Triple 9, and the film struggles to allow them all the chance to shine. Because of the lack of running time required to properly develop the many characters, they are either painted with incredibly broad strokes or so thinly that they are relegated to merely 'tough good guy' or 'tough bad guy'. Weaving in and out of the main set the central story is crack-snorting Detective Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson), the hard-nosed yet likeable sergeant investigating the gang, who also happens to be Chris' uncle. Just in case his questionable drug habit isn't enough, the camera insists on showing us every bead of sweat running down his unwashed brow to reinforce the idea that this really is a tough guy who doesn't play by the rules. Triple 9 is sadly chocked full of tired genre cliches, right down to the tacky dress-sense of Winslet's Russian gangster, all big hair and garish outfits.

Despite the immense talent of its actors, lazy writing and too much time spent watching these characters flexing their muscles at each other means that none really make an impression. Ejiofor certainly tries, but he fails to make us sympathise with his character, who is supposed to be the conflicted emotional core of the film, and Paul repeats his Jesse Pinkman shtick without the benefit of 5 seasons worth of character development. Things lighten up when a few heated exchanges simmer with tension, as Hillcoat makes it clear from the outset that no character is safe. With his best films, The Proposition (2005) and The Road (2009), Hillcoat demonstrated a real talent forging an extremely dark mood, brimming with atmosphere and lurking threat, but here, he manages it only fleetingly, finding little time to do so amidst an overstuffed plot.


Directed by: John Hillcoat
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Clifton Collins Jr., Kate Winslet, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,019: 'Captain America: Civil War' (2016)

'Superhero fatigue' is a phrase commonly batted around amongst critics and forum lurkers whenever a new caped crusader is unleashed into cinemas. Cries of Hollywood running out of ideas are often heard too. Despite all of this, the likes of Spider-Man, Batman and the Avengers crew have Hulk-smashed the box office for years. Most impressively, Marvel's ever-increasing 'Cinematic Universe' has been building now for 8 years and 13 films, films that occasionally claw in over a billion at the box-office. This is not down to audiences simply flocking to the promise of CGI explosions and wise-cracks, but Marvel's insistence on keeping the formula fresh.

After a few years churning out average to above-average (and one excellent in 2008's Iron Man) origin stories for the individuals that would, in 2012, reluctantly team up to become The Avengers, producer Kevin Fiege was obviously wary of wavering interests. Marvel's work since 2014, since the mediocre Thor: The Dark World in 2013, has been exceptional, placing their heroes and villains in a variety of cinematic genres. Captain America: The Winter Soldier played out like a 70's spy thriller, casting Robert Redford to reinforce the tone, Guardians of the Galaxy often felt like bizarre B-movie with a bigger budget and a more talented cast, and Ant-Man, a movie many predicted to be a disaster, was a full-on comedy, bolstered by the presence of an effortlessly charming Paul Rudd.

The latest - and by far the best - is the third and possibly final entry into the stand-alone Captain America series. Retaining The Winter Soldier's directors Anthony and Joe Russo and also much of the same tone, Civil War pits its second most popular superhero against its first, Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. Also along for the ride is almost every other hero on the roster, along with a couple of new ones. But what makes Civil War very much a Captain America film and not The Avengers 3 is the Russo's remarkable grasp of their characters. With Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) back on the scene as a very wanted man, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) finds himself torn between his loyalty to an old friend and being held accountable for his superhero actions. It is the friendship between the two that remains at the heart of the film.

When Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) accidentally causes mass destruction in Lagos on a mission led by Captain America, the Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) informs the Avengers that the United Nations are passing a bill known as the Sokovia Accords, which will see them under the control of a UN panel. Full of guilt over his balls-up with creating Ultron, Tony Stark backs the bill, as do War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Vision (Paul Bettany). With little confidence in the government, Steve opposes the bill, and is followed by Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Ant-Man. Tensions are raised higher when The Winter Soldier is accused of bombing the UN conference in Vienna and becomes a wanted man all over the world.

What makes Civil War such a gripping film is its refusal to offer any easy answers. Depending on your own political and personal views, Captain America could be the antagonist of his own movie, causing a war between friends over his blind loyalty to a friend he knows is a mass-murderer, albeit a brain-washed super soldier experiment. On the flip-side, the character Downey Jr. has now immortalised and the hero to always receive top billing could become a knee-bending traitor seeking accountability for his own irresponsible actions during the events of Age of Ultron. More likely, and more interestingly, you will come to realise that there is simply no right answer.

So it all comes down to who wins the fight. And what a fight it is. One of biggest flaws of Batman v Superman was its failure to come up with a believable scenario that would cause the good guys to beat on each other only to come to realise they are on the same side. Not only does the brawl feel organic, taking place at Leipzig airport with each character allowed more than one moment to shine, but it also refuses to offer any easy solution or a big bad for the team to unite against. The motivation and plan of the film's villain, Helmut Zemo, played with a remarkable subtlety by Daniel Bruhl, is kept a mystery until near towards the end. And just when you think you finally know where it's all heading, it side-steps you and goes in a completely different direction.

The film's biggest flaw is the introduction of Spider-Man, who is finally back in the hands of Marvel after Sony's failure to re-boot the franchise with Andrew Garfield. Played by Tom Holland, who is the best Peter Parker yet, his entry into the fold feels shoe-horned and slightly awkward. But when he is let loose during the airport fight, he damn near steals it until Ant-Man shows his new friends just what he can do. The other newbie, Black Panther aka the Wakandan T'Challa (a gravelly Chadwick Boseman), plays a bigger role than you might expect, still learning and developing into the king he will become. Above all else, Civil War is simply a blast. With such care taken with its army of characters, each getting their own arc, its easy to become emotionally invested. So when Cap and Iron Man really get down to business, it becomes unbearable to think that one of them may not walk away. Bravo, Marvel and the Russo's.


Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Chadwick Boseman, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Country: USA/Germany

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #997: 'The Night Before' (2015)

The premise of Seth Rogen's latest man-child comedy The Night Before, along with the casting of three of mainstream cinemas most likeable actors, may seem like catnip to fans of Rogen's previous hits Knocked Up, Superbad (both 2007) and 50/50 (2011). Yet while his best films cleverly and carefully toe the line between dick-jokes and genuine sweetness, The Night Before contains plenty of the former but previous little of the latter. It also falls at the first comedy hurdle by simply not being very funny despite some chemistry between its leads.

Best friends Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have got together every Christmas Eve to follow a ritual and party hard, initially started as a way to help Ethan get over the death of his parents. Only now, with Isaac expecting his first child with wife Betsy (Jillian Bell) and Chris enjoying late superstardom in the NFL, they decide that this Christmas will be their last. While his friends seem to be happy and maturing, Ethan seems to sleep-walking through life, earning money from a degrading job and heartbroken following his recent split with long-term girlfriend Diana (Lizzy Caplan).

The most frustrating aspect of The Night Before are the frequent hints at the much better movie this could have been. The tender relationship between Chris and his mother, along with an expletive-laden selfie rant by a drug-addled Isaac freaking out at the imminent arrival of his child, prove only fleeting moments of sentiment and laugh-out-loud hilarity. Isaac and Chris both have potentially complex obstacles to overcome, but the movie deals with them routinely and thoughtlessly. And Ethan, admittedly played with an earnestness by Gordon-Levitt, makes for drippy company. Only the scenes between him and Diana provide any hint of spark to his character as the naturalistic back-and-forth between the pair make for a believable and likeable recently-broken-up-couple-who-still-love-each-other.

So without the charm of Knocked Up, the awkward brotherly bonding of Superbad or the heart of 50/50, The Night Before is reduced to little more than dirty jokes, drug-taking and celebrity cameos. The final destination for the trio is the illusive Nutcracker Ball, for which Ethan has snagged tickets. When they get there, its hard to see what the fuss is all about, and appearances from James Franco and Miley Cyrus - appearing as themselves and mocking their own tabloid personas - feel unnecessary and forced. An extended role for Michael Shannon, popping up every now and then as pot dealer Mr Green, is easily the best character in the film, but even his impact is reduced when director Jonathan Levine tries to over-explain him and introduce a fantastical element into the story. You can pull it completely apart, but the films main crime is that is simply isn't funny enough.


Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, Jillian Bell, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Shannon, Mindy Kaling
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #950: 'Ant-Man' (2015)

When the news broke that Edgar Wright, the visionary writer-director who had been working on adapting Ant-Man for Marvel since before Iron Man (2008) and the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, dropped out citing creative differences with the studio, things didn't look promising for the miniature hero. Still, Wright and co-writer Joe Cornish's story remained in tact and the directorial reigns were passed to Peyton Reed, director of such routine genre fare as The Break-Up (2006) and Yes Man (2008). Although we can lament the loss of Wright's take on the character - a version we will now never see - Ant-Man turned out better than anyone could have expected.

One of the Marvel's biggest problems is constantly setting up their heroes to face a big bad with a plan to destroy the world in one shape or another, leading to a special effects-laden showdown in which all is saved (bringing down a building or ten in the process). The motivation for strapping on the suit for cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is not to prevent global destruction, but to redeem himself in the eyes of his young daughter, whose growing-up he has missed the bulk of due to a stretch in San Quentin. Following his release, Lang tries to go straight and gets a demeaning job, which he soon loses when they discover his criminal past. Unable to pay child support to his ex-wife (Judy Greer) and her new cop hubby (Bobby Cannavale), he takes a big job suggested to him by old criminal acquaintance Luis (the scene-stealing Michael Pena).

When Lang successfully breaks into the high-tech safe, all he finds is an old suit and some jars containing various coloured liquids. Curious, he tries on the suit (kudos to costume designer Sammy Sheldon for the steampunk creation) which shrinks him down to the size of a pencil tip. Guided by a strange voice in his ear, he escapes a bath filling with water, a packed dance-floor and a hungry rat, eventually working out how to grow to normal size again. It turns out that the voice belongs to Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who perfected the ability to shrink down the size between atoms while maximising speed and strength, but who hid his formula from the world in the hope of preventing its misuse. Pym hopes to employ Lang, with the help of his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), to break into his own company's headquarters and steal a similar suit developed by his mentally unstable former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). Or, as he puts it, "break into a place and steal some shit."

One of the key reasons that led to the abdication of Edgar Wright was Marvel (and Disney's) desire to see Ant-Man woven into the bigger Universe. While I have no doubt Wright's version would have been a stand-alone treat full of the visual splendour seen in the likes of Hot Fuzz (2007) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), the final product of Ant-Man in no way suffers from referencing events of Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) and the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, and manages to maintain a low-key feel. Anyone who knows anything about the comics will know what a huge character Hank Pym is, so leaving him out of the bigger picture would have certainly been a missed opportunity. It also leaves room for one the film's funniest scenes, in which Lang inadvertently arrives at the new Avengers base to steal a piece of technology, and finds himself up against the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) in the process.

Rudd works those puppy-dog eyes overtime and gains abs to rival Chris Pratt's recent transformation for Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, helping make Lang one of the most loveable reluctant heroes of all of Marvel's 'Phases'. He is one of the most effortlessly endearing comedians working at the moment, but its Michael Pena who stands out the most as his fast-talking criminal sidekick. Douglas also brings experience and emotional weight as the complex Pym, and Lilly demonstrates some untapped physical prowess while rocking a bob. It isn't perfect of course - Cross isn't a particularly interesting villain although Stoll performs well, and perhaps the script tries to tell one joke too many at times. But any film that successfully convinces you that its protagonist can talk to ants without drawing immediate laughter (even getting us to care for Lang's winged favourite Anthony) is doing something right. Roll on the recently-announced sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp.


Directed by: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Judy Greer, Anthony Mackie
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #914: 'Pain & Gain' (2013)

The last few years have been somewhat kind to the cinema meat-head. Channing Tatum has found his niche bringing sweetness and humanity to the square-jawed jock with roles in 21 Jump Street (2012) and Foxcatcher (2014), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Don Jon managing to find a heart beneath it's slick-haired, vest-wearing and gym-obsessed protagonist. Pain & Gain attempts to take a satirical swipe at the type of people who take pictures of themselves after a workout session and plaster their achievements all over social media, as three idiotic and steroid-pumped opportunists decide to take what they feel is owed to them in life. It claims to be based on a shocking true story, although the plot takes extreme liberties with the real-life events.

Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) is sculptured to perfection. He works at the gym where he feels he can help give anybody the body they want, and has helped his boss John Mese (Rob Corddry) turn the place around with a few smart business decisions. But his efforts have not given him the lifestyle he wants - a grand mansion, a top-of-the-range sports car, babes hanging off his massive arms, and every other materialistic pleasure life has to offer. He begins to lust after the kind of life lived by Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub), and so hatches a plan to extort the man for every penny he has after being inspired by motivational speaker Jonny Wu (Ken Jeong).

Along with the steroid-addled and impotency-stricken Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie), Daniel recruits enormous ex-convict and cocaine addict Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) to assist him in kidnapping and torturing Kershaw until he signs over all of his assets to them. The plan works, but they fail to kill Kershaw after attempting to run him over numerous times. However, nobody believes his story of three imbeciles pulling off such a crime, choosing instead to believe it to be the result of dodgy dealings with criminal organisations. So Daniel, Paul and Adrian are allowed to live the lifestyle they have fantasised about, until they decide it isn't enough and plan to shake down smut peddler Frank Griga (Michael Rispoli), while Kershaw hires private investigator Ed DuBois (Ed Harris) to help him take back his property.

It's quite a change of genre for director Michael Bay, who has spent the last few years making billions at the box-office with huge explosions and CGI robots. While Pain & Gain does demonstrate a previously unseen knack for black comedy, Bay does not possess the necessary skills to tell a story of murder and greed with the required intelligence or satire. When we should be laughing at these preening narcissists, Bay films them with his usual sickly sheen as if to admire them, obscuring the point the film is, I think, trying to make. The decision to play the film mainly for laughs is also in somewhat bad taste. While watching a coked-up Johnson remove a victim's fingerprints by grilling their dismembered hands on a barbecue is the stuff of black comedy gold, you have to remember that there were real victims in this story, and it all happened quite recently.

The main positive is that the performances are all spot-on. Wahlberg is perfect as a man who values his self-worth by his possessions, and Johnson restrains himself enough in a role that could have spilled over into complete farce. A lot of the film is in fact farcical, and not in a good way. Bay insists of filling the screen with fancy wide-angled shots and outdated screen text, when a little dose of subtlety would have worked better. Yet despite its flaws and a bloated sub-plot involving Doorbal's relationship with the doctor who is injecting his penis with the necessary drugs to make it work properly (Rebel Wilson), Pain & Gain is pretty entertaining, and amusing enough to hope that Bay may think about taking a different direction to his usual blockbuster drivel (although he did make the appalling Transformers: Age of Extinction after this).


Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry, Bar Paly, Rebel Wilson
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #775: 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' (2014)

After a pretty uninspired first movie, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and given little of note to do in the superhero smash-up The Avengers (2012), Captain America (Chris Evans) was quickly becoming the dullest Marvel superhero of them all. Kudos then, to directors Anthony and Joe Russo, who have not only rounded Cap a.k.a. Steve Rogers into a sympathetic, old-school hero in the face of very 21st century dangers, but they have made the best stand-alone Marvel film to date, surpassing Iron Man (2008), and flipping the tired formula of hero-smashes-baddie completely on its head.

After the events of The Avengers, Captain America is finding it difficult adapting to modern life. He's working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and running rings (literally) around his fellow soldiers, such as Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), who he quickly forms a close bond with. After a successful mission taking out some pirates and rescuing some hostages, he learns that his mission differed from that of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), who went along with him. Not wanting to be a mere pawn in the system and suspecting a cover-up, he confronts director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who reveals plans to launch three helicarriers, giant warships capable of great destruction and the obliteration of enemies.

The action soon turns to sheer paranoia, as Fury is attacked in one of the movie's best action scenes, and Cap is left to fend for himself as S.H.I.E.L.D., led by the shadowy Alexander Pierce (a wonderful against-type Robert Redford), closes around him. The only person resembling a true 'bad guy' is The Winter Soldier, a metal-armed assassin who seems to mirror Captain America's strength and agility, only with a clinical skill for murder. The Winter Soldier's identity is a poorly kept secret if you happened to be slightly paying attention in the trailer, and his presence is sadly fleeting, especially given the emotional impact his character has on Cap.

But this is a story skilfully told, drenched in a paranoia so prevalent in 1970's American cinema, when Robert Redford was 40 years younger and was usually running from the type he plays here. By taking this unusual and thoughtful approach, Captain America 2 truly enthrals, making us care about a hero that was once a goody-two-shoes, but is now a three dimensional man struggling to adapt to this new, crazy world, having everything he believed and loved about his country smeared in his face. Evans brings a humility to the role, and his scenes with Black Widow (given more screen-time here and lending more evidence to the need for her own stand-alone movie) sparkle with a real chemistry.

For all it's conspiracy plotting and character building, it's not shy on action. The slightly formulaic climax aside, we get to see Captain America finally let loose and lay a beat-down on some unfortunate fellas in close-quarters, Jason Bourne/The Raid (2011)-style. His shield is no longer just a sort of frisbee-boomerang hybrid, but a lethal weapon. But the finest, surprisingly, involves Nick Fury, a near-indestructible car, and a small fleet of cop cars. It's a fantastic film, not only down to it's well-constructed and emotionally-charged action scenes, or the inclusion of a plot you can sink your teeth into, but mainly for injecting life and genuine excitement back into Marvel's increasingly tedious formula.


Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #630: 'Gangster Squad' (2013)

Information is extremely easy to come by these days. Seemingly any fathomable topic can be typed into a search engine, and a world of information is unlocked. The biopic genre, that so often relied on myths and hearsay about its chosen topic, faced the reality that their 'artistic licence' would be stepped on, and audiences wanted something much more closer to fact. So, recent biopics, such as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and Lincoln (2012), brought the myth back down to Earth, showing us the human beneath the magazine serials and profiles. Director Ruben Fleischer has chosen to ignore this change in attitudes, and opted for a heavily stylised, operatically over-the-top portrayal of the downfall of Los Angeles kingpin Mickey Cohen with Gangster Squad, one of the biggest let-downs in recent memory.

Mickey Cohen's (Sean Penn) choke-hold on Los Angeles is growing increasingly tighter, with the police force, judges, and politicians all backing him up. Seeing no legal method of capturing Cohen and his criminal empire, Chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) calls in no-nonsense police sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to infiltrate and destroy Cohen's businesses. O'Mara quickly rounds up his tight crew, who he dubs the 'gangster squad', while O'Mara's friend and fellow police sergeant Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) woos Cohen's girlfriend Grace Faraday (Emma Stone). Using wire-tapping and some simple brutality, the squad start to break down Cohen's money-making schemes, until Cohen's starts to hit back in force, waging war in the city he wants complete control of.

While obviously heavily elaborating on 'fact', Gangster Squad's story is undeniably luring. Set amongst possibly the most corrupt and out-of-control era in America's history and against a backdrop Hollywood razzle-dazzle, it's amazing just how dull the film is. I would estimate about 95% of the film is complete bull-shit, which I could live with, but it's the way it goes about it's bull-shit that makes the film such, well, bull-shit. This is a film that tries to capture the 50's noir cool of the era, with sharp suits and cool hats, but there's only so many Gosling poses or look-how-cool-this-car-is moments that I can take. If it spent a little less try trying to be cool, and more time getting to the grit of the story then it may have worked a little better. But this doesn't capture the style of the era like L.A. Confidential (1997) did, it's all forced, hat-tilted-to one side, cigarette-hanging-loosely-out-the-mouth, forced cool.

For such a stellar cast, only Sean Penn manages to tune in a performance. As ridiculous as his prosthetics are and as outlandish as his performance is, he seems to be the only one really trying. Don't expect any depth, Penn's Cohen is a simple thug who will kill you if you fail him, and you would find more complex villains in early James Bond movies. Brolin and Gosling, two of the most interesting actors to emerge in the last ten or so years, barely register, failing to breathe any kind of life into their archetypal roles. But it is Emma Stone that suffers the most, serving no purpose other than to be the helpless damsel-in-distress and to give Gosling a reason to take his shirt off. In fact, you could label every one of the Gangster Squad as a familiar archetype you would think we'd moved away from. Brolin is The No-Nonsense Leader, Gosling is The Handsome One, Harris (Anthony Mackie) is The Black One, Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi) is The Nerdy One, Kennard (Robert Patrick) is The Veteran, and Ramirez (Michael Pena) is The Rookie.

I mean come on, this is 2013, can't we expect a little bit more from our mainstream films? It's just one cliché after another, including a little boy friendly with Wooters who gets killed by one of Cohen's men, convincing Wooters to join the squad. It even features a scene where a character throws his badge into the sea. At the point where Cohen opens fire on the squad and shouts 'here comes Santa Clause!', I gave up all hope. Apart from the cinematography, and Penn's energetic performance, I would have nothing good at all to say about this film. Maybe Fleischer should stick to comedy, as his previous movie Zombieland (2009), I actually really enjoyed. But if you want a more powerful, honest and dramatic depiction of Mickey Cohen, check out the first five minutes of L.A. Confidential instead.


Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, Nick Nolte
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #181: 'The Adjustment Bureau' (2011)

On the night of a failed senatorial bid by David Norris (Matt Damon), he meets the mischievous and beautiful Elise (Emily Blunt) in a bathroom whilst rehearsing his losing speech. They instantly share a connection before kissing, and Norris leaves her feeling inspired, and makes a landmark speech that will put him into pole position for the next election. The two happen to meet again on a bus, and again the spark is re-ignited. Yet Norris is being tracked by mysterious men in hats who seem to be controlling fate and keeping everything in line with 'the plan' of the big man upstairs, and the couple being together seems to go against this plan. Determined not to lose who he thinks is his true love, Norris defies the suited men, and finds himself watched and chased at every turn.

Adapted from a short story by Philip K. Dick, The Adjustment Bureau is a pretty solid idea that is confidently played out, but seems thinly spread out over the course of a feature-length running time. The idea that our fate is being tampered with to keep things 'on course', and that our fate is out of our own hands is something that was done much better in 1999's The Matrix. This film, however, focuses less on the sci-fi aspects and more on the idea of 'true love', as Damon's David Norris is convinced that if something feels so comfortable and right, then it simply must be how things should be. John Slattery and Terence Stamp's suited agents are compelled to feel otherwise, although they don't know why.

If the romantic angle seems all a bit soppy, it's actually more convincingly done than the science fiction. Damon, although not the greatest actor in the world, is certainly likeable as always, but it is Emily Blunt that comes out of the film most impressively. Her sweetness and laid-back quirks combined with her natural beauty makes for a love interest worth caring for, and you can understand the lengths that David goes to be with her. The magic hats, doors leading to anywhere, time freezing and fate maps are certainly quite interesting, but are so casually executed that often just seem silly, although these shady characters are played well by The Hurt Locker's (2008) Anthony Mackie, the ever-reliable Terence Stamp, and John Slattery, who I'm a big fan of from TV's Mad Men.

After 90 minutes of romance and the odd foot chase, I was expecting a thrilling climax that would perhaps throw in the odd surprise or two as well. But what I experienced was a half-arsed effort that rarely got the pulse racing, and a final scene that could be easily described as cop-out. It almost rendered everything I had seen prior to it pointless. However, this is still an enjoyable film with likeable performances all round, and an intriguing idea at its heart, but very far from the best Dick adaptation.


Directed by: George Nolfi
Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Terence Stamp
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie