New York Times film critic A.O. Scott is probably used to actors taking issue with his negative reviews. Last year, "Marvel's The Avengers" star Samuel L. Jackson blasted Scott's dismissal of the comic blockbuster by airing his grievances on Twitter. "NY Times critic AO Scott needs a new job!" Jackson tweeted.
Now another actor has come out against Scott's barbs -- though without as much vitriol as Jackson.
Jon Polito, a character actor famous for his parts in the Coen brothers' films "Miller's Crossing" and "The Big Lebowski," left a comment on Scott's pan of "Gangster Squad." Polito has a small role in Ruben Fleischer's 1940s-set thriller.
"What struck me about A.O. Scott's bad review was that it almost completely echoed [Vincent Canby's] review of another film I was in, 'Miller's Crossing.' That was a Kill review as well. Thankfully that film has be recognised as a classic. So, reviewers be damned!"
The 1990 film "Miller's Crossing" is now considered a classic by many. At the time of its debut at the New York Film Festival in 1990, however, Canby wrote that was "without much point at all."
Continued Polito: "Hope you all disreguard [sic] this review in the Times ... Scott couldn't be more off the mark. Obviously didn't get the camp and the cleverness of 'Gangster Squad'!"
HuffPost Entertainment has reached out to Polito's manager to confirm that it was the actor himself who left the comment. (It is signed "Jon Polito, Hollywood.")
Unfortunately for Polito, Scott's thoughts on "Gangster Squad" echo many other critics. On review aggregation site Metacritic, "Gangster Squad" scored 40 out of 100; on Rotten Tomatoes, it was given "rotten" score of 34 percent.
"'Gangster Squad' is less a movie than a costume party run amok," Scott wrote in his negative review. "The accessories of choice are guns of various calibers and styles, deployed to drown out -- or perhaps to emphasize -- knucklehead dialogue and inept storytelling."
Scott later wrote that the film would have been better off as an animated offering "with fanciful animals in the principal roles." In addition to Polito, the film stars actors Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie and Emma Stone.
For Scott's full review and to read Polito's retort, head over to The New York Times.
[@andygreenwald via NYT]
