Michael Peña: Gangster Squad (2013)

After Michael's (hopefully) breakout performance in End of Watch his part in Gangster Squad might seem a little bit disappointing. He played a young policeman, learning the ropes from a famous gunslinger cop (played by Robert Patrick), who becomes a part of the gangster squad almost by accident. He doesn't get intimidated by his more experienced colleagues though and is able to hold his own just fine.

Not much screen time here, but it is a relatively big movie distributed by a major studio, so even a few minutes can add a lot of value to his resume. Unfortunately, Gangster Squad has failed to impress the audience and critics or make a mark at the box office, but it is still a decent outing for this promising young actor. I can't wait to see what he does in Chavez.

Grade change: 46--->47

Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

Michael Peña data sheet

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Robert Patrick: Gangster Squad (2013)

Robert Patrick playing feisty old men already? Time flies, doesn't it? The role itself was pretty cool - a famous cop gunslinger, who can shoot anybody and anything from everywhere while throwing cranky one liners and educating his protege in the ways of violent slaughter. And it's always nice to see Robert in a movie that got wide theatrical release. His career seems to be picking up, but it still has a long way to go. It's a shame that Last Resort didn't work out and got canned after just one season. It could have been a great TV vehicle for Robert. Oh well.

Grade change: 41--->42. I'll add one point despite the unimpressive box office and mediocre reviews. Gangster Squad is still a big step up from all the straight-to-video trash he's been starring in lately.

Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

Robert Patrick data sheet

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Giovanni Ribisi: Gangster Squad (2013)

Giovanni Ribisi is the Hollywood go-to guy to play creeps and weirdos. In Gangster Squad, however, he wasn't asked to do anything of the like. Sure, tech guys in movies often tend to be rather...eccentric, but it was not the case here. He played it straight this time and did it well. It wasn't the most sizable part or a particularly interesting one, and it will not bring him any closer to proper leading roles, but professional character actors have to wade through a lot of projects in search of something special. This was not it, although a solid performance in a decent movie is nothing to feel bad about.

Current grade: 60--->60. A supporting character in a break even movie with mediocre reviews. No change.

Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

Giovanni Ribisi data sheet

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Anthony Mackie: Gangster Squad (2013)

Anthony Mackie is an experienced supporting actor with a very impressive resume. He had significant parts in movies like We Are Marshall, The Hurt Locker (probably his most notable role to date), Real Steel and is very well known at the moment, but he is yet to get a chance to headline a decent movie as a lead. It's coming though, it's definitely coming. He is young, talented and handsome. It's coming.

How was he in Gangster Squad? Perfectly fine, although he didn't have much to do unfortunately. He played a compulsory black member of the team, and he wasn't even a comic relief to steal some scenes. He beat up some people, threw a couple of one-liners, shot up a few bad guys from his Thompson...and that's it. A waste of a good actor, but parts like this are necessary to carve your way to better parts in the future. Gotta stay afloat and visible at all times in this business.

Current grade: 55

Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

Anthony Mackie data sheet

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Anthony Mackie data sheet

IMDB

Current grade: 55

2013:

55 (Gangster Squad)

Emma Stone: Gangster Squad (2013)

Emma Stone didn't impress me very much with this performance. I honestly think she is much better in movies based in more modern times. She has that hipster look and low-pitched voice, which don't really fit the femme fatale image she was asked to project in Gangster Squad. The later stage of a scared damsel in distress wasn't very convincing either. The fact that her romance story line with Ryan Gosling's character wasn't properly developed at all also didn't help to make this character more convincing.

Up until 2013 Emma has starred in at least 6 successful movies in a row, which included Zombieland, Crazy, Stupid, Love. and The Help among others. That's a very impressive track record, and it shows that she is very good at selecting and getting the right parts in the right movies. Gangster Squad is a bit of a miss in that regard, but all streaks have to end sometime.

Current grade: 78. A very underrated actress, who's been very successful during the last few years but still needs one career-defining performance to garner the worldwide acclaim. A solid 70+ already though.

Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

Emma Stone data sheet

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Emma Stone data sheet

IMDB

Current grade: 78

2013:

78 (Gangster Squad)

Ryan Gosling: Gangster Squad (2013)

Ryan Gosling played a charming, soft-speaking cop, who initially seemed like a bit of a wuss, but it turned out very quickly that it's just a clever cover, and he can kick ass with the best of them. One thing that bothered me about this performance was his voice. I wasn't a big fan of it already, but here it seemed as if the director asked Ryan to make his voice as annoying as possible.

What was that, really? Am I the only one who cringed whenever he had to speak? High-pitched, always on the verge of cracking and completely monotonous. I don't know, maybe it is me :) Other than that, a fine job indeed. A sensitive yet tough guy - that's kind of his specialty nowadays, isn't it? He plays these roles very well. His romantic side plot could have been stronger though.

Grade change: 78--->78. A co-lead in a break even movie with mediocre reviews. No change.

Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

Ryan Gosling data sheet

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Josh Brolin: Gangster Squad (2013)

A decent start of a very busy 2013 for Josh Brolin. In Gangster Squad he played a humorless brute of man, who is an ex-military honest cop and also a mean killing machine. He is wearing one facial expression throughout the whole movie - the one of stubborn determination, which you can see on the still above. It is a very physical performance, and Josh looks and plays the part 100%. His fighting is brutal and very effective in a "I am an invincible tank" kind of way. The best kind :) Not much dramatic work here, but I guess you can't have everything.

Grade change: 73--->73. A one-key character, break even movie, mediocre reviews, and he's already 70+...No change.

Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

Josh Brolin data sheet

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Sean Penn: Gangster Squad (2013)

Sean Penn against the Gangster Squad. That's basically the whole movie. Obviously, with the story structured this way, his evil gangster had to be good. And he is mostly. A former professional boxer, although not too bulky, still physically intimidating. Cocky, arrogant, delusional with a clear Napoleon complex - it's all there.

Very strange makeup though - he looked quite weird here. However, after seeing what a boxing career can do to a man on Mickey Rourke's unfortunate example, maybe it's actually quite realistic. He looked disturbing and acted accordingly, which was the idea. A good job by Sean. His villain was not the problem of this movie at all.

Overall though Sean is in a bit of a slow period of his career. His last three movies (four if we include Gangster Squad) failed to impress or make money. Milk was excellent, but it came out 5 years ago. Quoting the timeless Raw by Eddie Murphy, what have you done for me lately? 00's were great for Sean. Two Oscars, plenty of quality projects. Time to catch up.

Current grade: 84

Review: Gangster Squad (2013)

Sean Penn data sheet

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures