Warner Bros.
Well, to me the trailer looks a little flat and grey and full of clichés--call me jaded, but even using Nick Nolte and his gravelly voice seems a movie cliché at this point--not to mention that he seems to phone in his performances. Hope it will be more than a mishmash of
Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Changeling, and the [truly heinous]
Black Dahlia, to name a few..... I admire the acting skills of Sean Penn very much, but to play Mickey, where is Danny DeVito when you need him? (I'm ½ serious.) Period movies are looking more and more like video games--I understand the need to appeal to those who like them, but CGI can be more distracting than enhancing.
Btw, on closer look, I think that whoever the actor is at left above looks more like Mickey than anyone else in the cast....
. (Pic from the
The Museum of the American Gangster, which I've never heard of and turns out to be a few blocks from my apt...will have to go over and check it out.)
The thing is... I never even noticed the lack of streetcars in
Chinatown, one of my favorite movies, until you mentioned it. Judging by that movie's brilliance--recreated streetcars, by CGI or other means, seem to be unnecessary for movies that concentrate on plot and real mood. Polanski no doubt would understand this even if he were making his movie now--no "extra stuff" needed.... i.e., I'm not a huge fan of most CGI.
And were L.A. police detectives really as well dressed as Mickey? I doubt it.
Anyway--this four-parter on the life of Mickey Cohen is interesting. It includes great interviews with the man--some late in his life--and others, including, oddly, a couple with Mr. Judy Garland, Sid Luft:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAY4x...feature=relmfu
(There are four parts--and an annoying watermark throughout, but perhaps it's available without it on Netflix.)