It appears that Warner Bros. has finally decided its time to reintroduce us to Gangster Squad, Ruben Fleischer's star-studded mobster flick that once had some talking as a potential award winner. But then the film was sidetracked by the unfortunate Colorado shootings, and was unceremoniously dumped in the dreary month of January where no one would see it. In the process they also yanked all marketing for the film, and had Fleischer and writer Will Beal conjure up a new, safer ending. Not good signs.
It looks like the plan of attack is to put the emphasis squarely on young stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, as they dominate the newly released trailer, which follows-up on today's brand new poster. Gosling, looking so cool he might even be asleep, plays a member of a crack LAPD squad designed destroy the mob's influence on the west coast. Josh Brolin is mostly an afterthought here, but we do get plenty of Sean Penn as mobster Mickey Cohen.
This one's all about Gosling and Stone, and while they're generally charming and charismatic performers, their scenes here are strangely muted. Stone also seems a little out of place trying to play a sexy siren. She's much better in more down-to-earth roles where her humor and likability make her naturally appealing.
So should we be concerned Gangster Squad isn't the film we hoped it to be? The ease with which it got bumped to January is worrisome, and this trailer isn't good enough to calm any fears. Nick Nolte, Michael Pena, Anthony Mackie, Frank Grillo, and Giovanni Ribisi will help lead an all-star cast when Gangster Squad opens on January 11th....
