REVIEW: THE NICE GUYS

Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling have amazing chemistry in their new film, The Nice Guys. This film, written and directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Lethal Weapon), stars Crowe who plays Jackson Healy, a man who is a type of enforcer, who roughs people up after being paid to do so. Gosling, on the other hand, plays Holland March, a private eye who often takes advantage of people looking for information. Though this film never portrays either character as “a nice guy”, they are extremely funny detectives looking for a girl named Amelia, in 1977 Los Angeles.

My favorite element of The Nice Guys, is the acting. Crowe and Gosling do so well as these rough characters who are hired to find this girl. Gosling did an incredible job at delivering his lines and playing this immature “worst detective ever” throughout the film. Both characters never have their shit together. They often make mistakes and miss crucial pieces of evidence, but that is what makes Nice Guys so fun to watch. Though it isn’t your typical movie from Black, Nice Guys is a slow burn, letting the action explode on screen later in the film.  Along with Crowe and Gosling, Gosling’s daughter, played by Angourie Rice in the film, makes such an impact on screen. Fulfilling the “side –kick” character, Rice does a fantastic job.

As the acting is superior in this film, there is the element of Black’s writing and directing. Black, most known for his writing in Lethal Weapon and directing in Iron Man 3, takes a Pulp Fiction like approach to this film. This film, though violent, will have you laughing out loud in the theatre. There were so many scenes where you can’t help but laugh at the situations that these two have gotten themselves into. A round of applause to Black, who does an amazing job mixing both comedy and action. However, though the dialogue was exceptional in this film, the plot seemed to get blurry along the way. Though it is cleared up by the end of the film, the plot of, this person was related to this person and these two people worked together, well, it became hard to follow. The villain is rather too easy to solve in the film. I expected this person’s identity to be someone distracting us from the true identity of the villain. Got that? No? Neither did I when it happened on screen.

The Nice Guys is not your average “buddy cop” movie, but it’s worth watching, none the less. Nice Guys falls short of rubbing elbows with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but once again, it’s typical Black cooking up another great crime dramedy for us.

The Nice Guys

Written and Directed by: Shane Black

Starring: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, and Kim Basinger

Rating: