Mixed Results In Ruben Fleischer's GANGSTER SQUAD Trailer

I must confess right from the outset that I am something of a Ruben Fleischer skeptic. While Zombieland was a pleasant enough diversion its massive success - and the subsequent elevation of Fleischer to Hollywood's A-list - was something of a puzzle to me. Was it a case of Fleischer being in the right place at the right time or was there something else going on that others appreciated but I just couldn't see? The general yawn that met Fleischer's second effort - 30 Minutes Or Less, which made its money back but barely - must have come as something of a blow and now we come to his third feature, Gangster Squad.

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.

With one surprise success and one middling affair behind him, my hunch is that this is the film that will define Fleischer's career going forward. This will be the moment where Hollywood will decide whether he belongs in the A-list or is more cut out for journeyman, work for hire types of jobs. And given the all star cast that Zombieland's success afforded him here the ultimate success or failure will rest entirely on Fleischer's shoulders.

So, what of it?

This is material that Josh Brolin and Sean Penn can both do in their sleep at this point of their careers and while neither appears to be doing so neither is showing quite the level of engagement that you would hope for, either. And Ryan Gosling's accent is just plain perplexing. Art direction looks fabulous and the action well staged but the attempts to 'modernize' the period gangster film ... well, those often sit about as well as Gosling's accent.

This first Gangster Squad trailer is something of a mixed bag ... some things to like nestled up against what appear to be some warning signs. Take a look below and weigh in.