I went to see Gangster Squad today. It's a pretty good movie, and definitely pulls shot ideas from De Palma's The Untouchables, as well as other gangster movies (and the slow-motion scene in which Ryan Gosling's character turns and decides he is going to go after Mickey Cohen after all reminded me of the great Kirk Douglas slow-motion anger gun march in the big set-piece of De Palma's The Fury). In all fairness to director Ruben Fleischer, it is obvious that if he pulled from any of these shots, they are just blips in a movie he has made his own way. Gangster Squad could have been a weightier film under a different director, with this great cast and this script, but as it stands, it is a fast-paced entertainment that, while it sometimes feels a bit too slick for its own good, still manages to satisfy.Sean Penn gives a great performance, and I noticed a familiar face: Holt McCallany, who had a brief scene with Penn in De Palma's Casualties Of War in 1989 (see picture below), plays Mickey Cohen's right hand man and bodyguard in Gangster Squad (that's him sitting next to Emma Stone in the image above). What a coincidence, 24 years later. UPDATE Thanks to Alex in the comments section for pointing out that another Casualties Of War cast member, Don Harvey, also appears in Gangster Squad as a police officer. Harvey also had a brief scene with Kevin Costner in The Untouchables.
Posted by Geoff
at 11:15 PM CST
Updated: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 4:49 PM CST
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Updated: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 4:49 PM CST
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