"The Nice Guys" Review

The Nice Guys is a dark comedy crime/buddy cop film directed and co-written by Shane Black (Iron Man 3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and starring Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, and Angourie Rice, with Keith David, Kim Basinger, Matt Bomer, and Beau Knapp in minor roles. The film is set in 1977 Los Angeles and follows bumbling alcoholic private detective Holland March (Gosling) and enforcer-for-hire Jack Healy (Crowe), who team up when their clients both present cases regarding the apparent suicide of a porn star, leading them into a twisty, bizarre mystery involving the government and the 1970s porn industry. I was super excited for this movie when it was being advertised. The trailers gave me a vibe similar to The Big Lebowski mixed with Boogie Nights, both of which I love, so I was pretty psyched. And yeah, this movie delivered.




You'll hear this from every single person who's seen this movie and recommends it, but the absolute best thing about the film by far is the chemistry between Gosling and Crowe, who make one of the most entertaining on-screen duos in a long time (wait, when did 21 Jump Street come out? Okay, not that long, but they're really good is the point). For the most part, this movie eschews the cliches of the buddy cop genre, for one thing making the tough guy the one who's not an actual cop or even a PI. Their personalities are distinct and they are both fleshed out and have a good deal of dimension, but they're very similarly laid-back dudes with similar jobs and outlooks on life, but with different methods of doing their jobs and their own personal demons to grapple with. Overall I think Gosling's character was the stronger of the two, but Crowe's got glimmering moments of depth that are just enough to make his character interesting, and his performance is understated and funny.

The surprise of the film was the character of Gosling's daughter (Rice), who's sort of the Penny to Gosling's Inspector Gadget. She's never annoying and doesn't make Gosling seem completely incompetent, but the two complement each other and learn from each other. It's a really surprisingly sweet father-daughter relationship coming from a film with such a dark sense of humor, and even Crowe and the daughter manage to get in a nice cute scene or two in. Really, just the whole main cast does a great job of breathing life into these goofy but fully realized characters, even Basinger and David who are pretty sorely underused.

The performances don't uplift the film from nothing, though. Black's script is dripping with his signature pitch-black humor, bloody slapstick violence, and snarky jackass characters, this time set against the backdrop of 70s L.A., a time period which the film captures pretty well. Unlike other 70s-based dramedies like American Hustle and Boogie Nights, I was never really blown away by the soundtrack, but they get some good tunes in, and it's more the look and feel of the flashy-but-trashy LA underworld that the film nails. Especially during the second act when our characters dive deeper into the porn scene, the movie's vibrant neon colors, costumes, and funky hairdos really come to life in a film whose palette and production design are already teeming with personality.

That, and the humor is pretty constant. There are numerous belly laughs of all types, ranging from the silly slapstick violence to nice subtle quirks and background additions, as well as some delightful jabs at hippies, a group of people whose views and actions are juxtaposed to hilarious ends with Gosling and Crowe's rigid (but in a lot of ways equally flawed and selfish) outlook, often resulting in some funny gags as well as some telling character moments for Gosling regarding the world his daughter will be growing up in that I thought was an understated but interesting touch.

Such is the success of Black's screenwriting, managing to thread together bloody shootouts, drunken Gosling hijinx, and a talking bee with the voice of Hannibal Buress with a coherent, twisty neo-noir story about clashing generations and how to judge whether or not one is a good person. It's a movie that I'm sure I'll be able to further identify its narrative achievements upon later viewings, but I can just tell they're there. The movie gives lots of hints that it is very aware of the flaws in all of its characters' outlooks on life, and they are each the butt of a number of jokes. The film has few downsides, the only major one being that it can sometimes feel unfocused (though I thought the same of The Big Lebowski on my first viewing) and the ending is a little overblown, however it does result for a pretty great jab at the invincible hero trope and runs with it brilliantly.

Overall, The Nice Guys is a super fun time at the movies. It's an original and fun buddy cop comedy with well-rounded characters performed excellently by a talented cast, a smart and self-aware script, and some really nice 70s imagery and music. I wish I could get more detailed in my analysis of its narrative themes, but I'd honestly need to see it again first, which I know I will. All I know is that Gosling better get a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a comedy. His physical comedy was probably the best I've seen from a serious actor since the Quaaludes scene in The Wolf of Wall Street. If you want a fun comedy and want to support an original movie made by a guy who clearly just loves writing movies, then go check out The Nice Guys.

Grade: A-