Despite having ceded its release date to a fellow Warner Bros. film, "Argo," it appears the studio has not given up on its drama "Gangster Squad." Directed by Ruben Fleischer ("Zombieland," "30 Minutes Or Less") and featuring the all-star cast of Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Mackie, Emma Stone and a prosethtic-laden Sean Penn, a trailer has just arrived, likely ensuring the picture will arrive in 2012 after all. When? Well, that would be a question that won't be answered yet.
The synopsis of the film is thus:
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) 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 (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart. "Gangster Squad" is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD's efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time.
And the verdict? Well, to be honest, we haven't had 100% faith in this one, specifically because its release date has been bumped twice now (first minor tweak was here) which suggested that WB wasn't exactly sure what to do with with the picture. Would it be a drama? An action film? Well, it's hard to tell, and Jay-Z might sell the trailer to millenials who don't like "old-timey" films, but to be honest it makes for a pretty hard to read trailer, tone-wise (and those CGI shots/Zack Snyder-ish camera moves seem out of place, but do seem very Fleischer-esque ). And this might be exactly why the film doesn't have a release date yet. It looks… interesting, but honestly, we'd love to see just a trailer played a bit straighter, please. But with a trailer arriving before the mid-year mark, we assume a final release date will be just around the corner. Summer? If there's an open slot, it won't surprise us.
Watch the trailer below. [Apple]
