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Poster for Gangster Squad

Gangster Squad

No names. No badges. No mercy.

2013 · 1h 53m · R Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by Ruben Fleischer

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Overview

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.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
Rotten

Gangster Squad looks the part, but it's so superficial it practically evaporates before our eyes.

Tom Charity, CNN.com
Rotten

Some of the clothes and makeup feel as glossy as paint, but, those aside, we seem to browsing through a display of secondhand goods.

Anthony Lane, New Yorker
Fresh

It might sound like a stretch, imagining Penn playing that intense, indiosyncratic a villain. But the lauded, veteran actor pulls a left hook, then a right, and after a wild bodyshot at the tail end of the film, you see the true mania behind his eyes.

Ricardo Baca, Denver Post
Rotten

Director Ruben Fleischer and screenwriter Will Beall can't decide whether to make a spoof or a serious drama, so they wrongheadedly attempt both.

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
Fresh

Gangster Squad" is a highly stylized, pulp-fiction period piece based on true events.

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com

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