Gangster Squad (2013)

Starring: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, Robert Patrick

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama

Rating: C+

I'm going to predicate this by saying that while I'm not exactly giving this a good review, I did enjoy it.  Gangster Squad was definitely over hyped and possibly even wrongly promoted, and as such going into it I was expecting one type of movie and got something a bit different.  This is a movie created by the guy who did Zombieland, and as such it's a movie like Zombieland kind of trying to be a movie like Godfather or something similar.  As such, it kind of ends up in between the two, to the detriment of the film, although throughout it it still manages to be entertaining and fun.

Gangster Squad is the kind of true, but not really, story of Mickey Cohen (Penn) and the police officers who formed a squad, the Gangster Squad, to stop him.  The head of this squad is Sergeant John O'Mara (Brolin), a decorated war hero who doesn't fit into the L.A. police scene simply because he won't take bribes and wants to persecute Cohen and his thugs.  O'Mara is joined by detective Coleman Harris (Mackie), wire-tapper Conway Keeler (Ribisi), gunslinger Max Kennard (Patrick), and his partner Navidad Ramirez (Peña).  His friend, Jerry Wooters (Gosling), who has rejected an offer to join the squad, meanwhile is carrying on an affair with Cohen's lover, Grace Faraday (Stone).

Okay, so let's see.  The action was fun, I enjoyed it.  With the exception of the Chinatown incident it all really flowed well and was, while not exactly believable, definitely entertaining.  There were a few moments that were a bit hockey, and a few add ins that made me feel like the film was trying to be the 1960s Batman - more than once I almost expected a "POW" to be displayed across the screen - but for the most part it was fun.  The humour was good too and really on key.  It wasn't an overly funny movie, but there were definitely a number of points when someone would say something that made me smile or chuckle a little.

I really liked the relationship between O'Mara and his wife, played by Mireille Enos, and really wanted more of it.  From the get go I felt the love and chemistry between the two of them and I worried about what was going to happen to each of them, and between each of them, more than any other character.  Actually, with all honesty, the only other characters that I really cared about here were the ones played by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone - although more because I like the actors themselves than because of any development of their relationship.  I do think that Gosling's Jerry was developed, and I really enjoyed the character, but Stone's Grace was less developed, and their relationship... somehow, despite the fact that I already know the two as a couple from Crazy, Stupid, Love and know that they can have amazing chemistry, the two don't really have chemistry here.  It's lacking, which sucks.  I want to see more from the two of them as a couple in this film so that I could really love them as a couple.  And now I just want to go watch Crazy, Stupid, Love again.  I will stick this out there, though, if you're filming a movie with Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn in it one of them should appear shirtless and the other should not.  I'm sorry, Gangster Squad, but you made the wrong decision there.

Drive (2011)

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller, Neo Noir
Rating: A+

This is definitely one of my favourite movies of all time.  There are a few key elements of it that make it so epic-ly awesome: it's awesomely and subtly acted, it's unpredictable, and it blows your mind.  The first time that I saw it was in theatres and there were a few key points during which I actually jumped out of my seat (fortunately, I was at Station Square and there wasn't really anyone else there).

Drive follows an unnamed man, the Driver (Gosling) through a life changing journey.  At the start of the film he's a man with... questionable morals; by day he works as a stuntman and a mechanic, and by night he works as a getaway driver.  When he's working as a getaway driver the Driver has a set of rules; he only works anonymously, he never works for the same people twice, and he only allows them five minutes to get their business done.  It is implied, although not confirmed, that the Driver has not been caught at his night job.  The Driver's daytime boss and night time connection is Shannon (Cranston), a man with a mixed past and many ties to the mob.  Shannon is hoping to get mobster Bernie Ross (Brooks) to buy a stock car for the Driver to race; Bernie's partner Nino (Perlman), thinks the idea is ridiculous and doesn't trust Shannon - whose pelvis he once had broken because of Shannon's habit to overcharge.  While the Driver's business life is becoming a bit more shady his personal life is becoming a bit more involved; one day he meets his neighbour Irene (Mulligan) and her son Benicio (Kaden Leos), and becomes close to the two.  Despite having clear romantic feelings for Irene things are complicated when her husband Standard (Isaac) is released from jail, and complicated further when it becomes clear that Standard owes money and needs the Driver's help - help that, if it isn't procured threatens Irene and Benicio.

Ryan Gosling's performance in this is amazing.  The thing that really makes it a powerful performance is the fact that Driver is a largely silent man; there are entire scenes that go by with him barely saying a word.  He really has to show the audience what he's thinking and feeling, rather than simply tell them, and he's extremely successful in doing so.  Driver has questionable morals, but it's very clear to see just what he values and what he takes pride in.  His feelings for Irene are never really spoken but from the beginning it's clear how he feels, and the chemistry between the two is very convincing.  The other actors all seem to kind of fall in around Gosling's performance; none of them are over the top, none of them fail to be convincing.  The scenes between Cranston and Gosling especially are intriguing as they have rather clashing personalities; Cranston's Shannon being a very talkative, morally deviant, and rather weak willed man, while the Driver is strong and silent, even if his actions aren't always right.  That's the other thing that I like about this film - there are so many shades of grey here.  The villains are clearly established, but even some of them are somewhat likeable. The good guys are also clearly established, but they're not always that likeable either, and they operate on the same shades of grey that the villains operate under.  Asides from Benicio, who as a child is an innocent, the purest character in this film is Irene - who has feelings for the Driver, despite being married, and really is married to a convict, giving one just reason to question her own morals.  I could say more, but I fear doing so and spoiling the movie.  Instead, I'll leave this off with a bit of a warning: this is a very gritty and dark movie; it's smarter than the average crime, car chase type film, but it's also a lot more gruesome and violent.

The Ides of March (2011)

Stars: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright
Director: George Clooney
Genre: Drama
Rating: A-

This is not a fun movie.  It isn’t one of those films that you just turn on and watch in order to be entertained.  Instead it makes you think and in the end you leave with a sinking feeling in your gut.  In addition to not being a fun movie, The Ides of March isn’t even a particularly happy movie.  At no point in it do you think that the characters might be successful and win – or, if you do happen to think as much, it’s a very short lived thought.  Despite that though, it’s a really good movie: one of those films that is clearly made for the awards, but is actually good.  I usually find that the movies that are made just for the awards that they might win are dull and boring, but Ides is intense.

Stephen Meyers (Gosling) is a man with a dream.  The Junior Campaign Manager for Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Morris (Clooney) Stephen’s dream is to put Morris in the White House.  This isn’t because he’s on the campaign but rather because he actually firmly believes in Morris’ politics.  He’s on the campaign because he wants to see a man like Morris as president.  However, as Morris’ campaign is attempting to get the backing of Senator Franklin Thompson (Wright), Stephen is offered a position by Tom Duffy (Giamatti), the Campaign Manager of Meyers’ opponent.  Stephen also becomes romantically entangled with intern Molly Stearns (Wood), through whom he discovers that Morris is not as honourable as he appears.  This all comes to head in one very dramatic day, completely changing Stephen’s view of the world.

The journey that Gosling’s character goes on in this movie is intense.  In the start you’re rooting for him and Clooney because it seems like they’re in the right.  They’re the kind of guys that you want to see running a country.  As the movie progresses though it becomes very clear that things are not always what they seem and you begin to question whether anyone, really, is actually a good person – or at least, whether anyone involved with politics is.  Ides has a very dark view of the world, and by the end of the movie you’re questioning if you should be rooting for Stephen, Morris, Duffy, Paul Zara (Hoffman), or if you should be running for the hills.  I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, but I don’t think you’re supposed to know how to feel about it. I’m certainly not happy, but once again, you’re not supposed to be happy with it.  My one problem with this movie is really that I was a bit confused by the way in which the presidential candidate nomination process works… but being Canadian, I’ve never really understood the American system in general, so this wasn’t really new.  Overall, a good movie, even if it isn’t exactly fun or bright.