The Nice Guys (2016)

Review

116min

Genre:        Action, Comedy, Crime, Mystery

Director:     Shane Black

Cast:          Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Angourie Rice…and more

Writers:      Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi

-Synopsis-

In late 1970s Los Angeles; a sleazy private investigator and a gruff enforcer team up on a mysterious missing persons case, only to get caught up in a dangerous criminal conspiracy which links the underworld to the corridors of power in this off-beat comedy crime story from writer/director Shane Black.

Actor-turned-writer-turned-director Shane Black has had a long history with darkly comic action/thrillers; from co-starring in ‘Predator’ to moving into writing with ‘Lethal Weapon’ and ‘The Last Boy Scout’, eventually transitioning into directing with ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ and ‘Iron Man 3’, and it’s clear from the start that he’s used all that experience to craft a nostalgic character-driven film for a new generation.

What could fairly be described as ‘Lethal Weapon’ meets ‘Boogie Nights’; ‘The Nice Guys’  combines key elements of the 70s detective mystery with the 80s buddy-cop action thriller and throws in modern day irreverent graphic comedy, the result is a thoroughly entertaining genre mashup with a distinctly charming sleaziness and a comedy mix with no shortage of classic slapstick.

Russell Crowe features as the straight man of the piece as the muscle, while Ryan Gosling’s performance as the slightly inept drunkard private eye not only steals the show but keeps the entire film together; aided greatly by his on-screen daughter and moral heart of the piece Angourie Rice, a sure-fire future young Hollywood leading-lady.

Set to the sounds of an ultra funky soundtrack and a meticulously re-created seedy late 1970s L.A., where the criminal underworld and the porn industry conspire with big business and government; ‘The Nice Guys’ is not exactly a narrative triumph from Shane Black.

With an almost incidental and muddled narrative which unravels when the mystery is solved and transitions into a hastily wrapped-up all-action 3rd act, not to mention unconvincing one-note villains; this is every inch a character piece which gets elevated beyond mediocre by the irresistibly charming chemistry between the three leads, and by a rare comedic performance from Ryan Gosling that would make Peter Sellers proud.

The Bottom Line…

Despite a meandering and fanciful story which serves little purpose other than giving talented actors an excuse to play; the charming dynamic between the 3 leads and memorable performance from Ryan Gosling make ‘The Nice Guys’ a thoroughly entertaining action/comedy romp, a fine homage-paying introduction to the joys of the “buddy cop” film for a new generation.

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Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Lethal Weapon (1987)

A family-man veteran detective is reluctantly paired with a skilled but suicidal loose-cannon cop on the streets of L.A., together they must stop a dangerous group of drug-smuggling mercenaries who threaten their family in Richard Donner’s classic “buddy-cop” action/thriller.

Directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and Gary Busey among others.

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