On Jan. 11th the highly anticipated mobster movie, "Gangster Squad" opens nationwide. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Michael Pena, Anthony Mackie, and Sean Penn.
The film is an adaptation by Will Beall from the Paul Lieberman's book "Gangster Squad" and chronicles the LAPD's fight to keep East Coast Mafia types out of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s.
"Squad" premiered in Los Angeles on Monday Jan. 7th and received mixed reviews. Todd McCarthy of Hollywood Reporter stated that "These are good actors, but aside from Brolin and Gosling, they're barely given any special moments of their own to make their marks here." He also stated that it is a "Cartoonish version of LA Crime Lore."
Variety's Peter DeBruge was more positive and stated that "Squad" is "An impressively pulpy underworld-plunger that embellishes on a 1949 showdown between a dedicated team of LAPD officers and Mob-connected Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) for control of the city."
The film currently has a 55 percent approval rating on aggregate site Rottentomatoes.com.
"Gangster Squad" was originally slated to be released in September but was pulled from the 2012 slate after the Aurora shooting in Colorado. The films first trailer depicted a scene with four gangsters firing machine guns through a projection screen into a crowded movie theater. Warner Bros. pulled the trailer from circulation and ordered the film back into production for reshoots of the scene. A new trailer of the film was released in October.
"Gangster Squad" was directed by Ruben Fleischer and is being distributed by Warner Bros.