Seargent John O'Mara saves a young woman from the goons of famed mobster Mickey Cohen. Ever since Cohen resolved to claim Los Angeles for himself, he has found himself emboldened, with more authority figures and cops in his pocket than ever. Police Chief Parker sees that O'Mara isn't intimated by Cohen's presence, and he enlists O'Mara to a secret task force. Their job: to step outside of the boundaries of the law and hurt Cohen's stronghold on the city by any means necessary. O'Mara struggles to put together a team, since he can't be sure who is already in Cohen's pocket on the force, but he eventually finds a ragtag bunch: Wooters, a cop with no respect for authority; Harris, a black cop upset by the drugs coming into the black communities in LA; Keeler, a father with a strong moral compass; Kennard, an old-school sharpshooter; and Kennard's Hispanic protege, Ramirez. They start putting the hurt on Cohen's organization, and they get the attention of both the media and Cohen himself. However, when Cohen successfully feeds the squad false information and executes an organized hit on the squad and their families, resulting in the deaths of Keeler and Wooters' best friend, they must find someone willing to inform on Cohen, storm his stronghold, and bring him in by the books to put him under arrest.
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Best part of story, including ending:
Tonally, the movie alternates between aiming for pulpy fun and gritty realism, leaving an unpleasant taste in the viewers' mouths.
Best scene in story:
Wooters putting the moves on Cohen's girlfriend, because Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone share great sexual chemistry together.
Opinion about the main character:
O'Mara is such a stern straight arrow that it's hard to get too much of a read on him in order to relate to him personally.
