The Nice Guys - directed by Shane Black
Screenplay: Shane Black & Anthony Bagarozi
Music Score by: David Buckley & John Ottman
Cinematography: Philippe Rousselot
Edited by: Joel Negron
Running Time: 116 minutes
Rated: R16 - Violence, Nudity and Profanity
One of the great movie annoyances for me is the seeming lack of love and respect that Shane Black's 2005 movie "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" gets.
I was lucky enough to see it early but the reduced price on the preview ticket should have clued me in that the studio wasn't hopeful about it being a huge hit.
Still it was made for next to nothing in Hollywood terms - a modest $15,000,000.
Which is what it ended up making in box office receipts.
Not a financial success then but to me at least a huge one in every other way.
I watch it at least once a year on blu-ray and it gets funnier and funnier every time.
The news that Shane Black was writing and directing another buddy movie of a similar ilk was hugely exciting and "The Nice Guys" sat just under "Captain America: Civil War" and "Rogue One" on my most anticipated list for this year.
The pairing of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling seems like one of those casting ideas so good that it must surely have happened before now but in fact it has not.
It is indeed the heart of "The Nice Guys" just as Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer's pairing was in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"
Crowe, like Kilmer plays the more professional member of the respective pairing although in both cases it is a relative thing.
Gosling takes the Downey Jr like role as the bumbling comic relief who occasionally manages to get something right.
Crowe's Jackson Healey is a heavy paid to beat people. Maybe it is an older guy who needs to be 'encouraged' from exploiting an underage girl or perhaps an arm or two needs to be broken to dissuade a PI from pursuing a missing persons case.
That latter is of course how he meets Gosling's Holland March - a low rent con artist of a PI who we first meet taking money from a grieving widow who is distraught that she hasn't seen her husband 'missing' since his funeral.
Soon the pair are embroiled in a plot that is very definitely a blood brother to that of the twisted, unpredictable but very self aware "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang".
Along for the ride is the extraordinary Australian actress Angourie Rice as Gosling's smarter than her years 13 year old daughter.
More often than not a kid playing a prominent role in a movie like this is a bad idea but Shane Black has consistently shown that it can be effective.
Look at "Iron Man 3" and Ty Simpkins (who gets a role in the opening scene of this film).
The banter between Simpkins and Downey Jr in that film was one of the many things that worked.
Kids can be mixed up in very adult situations without ruining everything.
So it is with Rice who is really very, very good here.
By treating her character as smart, resourceful and far from just a damsel in distress Black has fashioned a character that bridges the two leads and actually enriches them and their reluctant relationship.
Of the two leads it is Gosling who truly shines.
He has a host of comedic moments throughout the film but the crown jewel is surely the Hollywood party that sees him drunk, swimming with mermaids, falling down off a high balcony and breathlessly gasping screams of distress at the discovery of a bloodied corpse.
It is vintage Shane Black stuff - whatever you are sure is coming next isn't and nothing that happens can ever really be predicated.
And of course no reference exists that won't return later in some form or another be it a wicked punchline or a major plot development.
I am not a fan of Russell Crowe generally but in his defence he gets the shorter end of the script stick but still does a great job.
He is pretty much the straight man here and exists to enable Gosling to play the fool.
He has packed on some serious beef to increase his weight up around 120 kilos for the role.
Apparently he wanted to contrast his character with Gosling's younger, fitter character but the extra beef does suit his 'heavy' role.
The pair look like they are having the time of their lives and it is reflected in how much fun this movie is.
No- it is not as perfectly hilarious as "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" and there are a couple of moments that just don't work.
Matt Bomer's hitman 'John Boy' and Kim Basinger's Justice Department official are also not given enough space to really shine.
Bomer in particular could have done with more screen time - John Boy is a great character with far more to offer than the two or three scenes that he gets.
There is a great sense of period - in this case 1977 Los Angeles.
The music doesn't line up exactly right with The Pina Collada Song and a couple of Earth Wind and Fire songs a couple of years ahead of their actual debut but they do add greatly to the atmosphere.
The fashion and the Boogie Nights-like porn backdrop are a hoot.
It is great seeing afros, flared pants, headbands and frilly shirts all over the place.
And of course there are no cellphones to get in the way of the plot.
On that subject- the plot doesn't make a lot of sense.
Without getting into the finer details for fear of spoilers the entire central spark behind the events here doesn't really add up.
When the truth behind the missing persons, dead porn stars, hitmen and high ranking politicians is revealed you may well scratch your head that all of this mess had to happen at all.
You will know what I mean when you seen it.
Still- there is so much fun to be had regardless that the plot is almost irrelevant beyond enabling a string of strange scenes and characters.
I fear that "The Nice Guys" will suffer a similar fate to "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" and will be largely ignored by the film going public.
It may be 'too odd' for a lot of people and the language, nudity and violence may not suit others.
For me though it is a great mix and I had a lot of fun with this film.
Gosling is terrific, I can't wait to see what young Angourie Rice does next and for once I loved Russell Crowe's work.
This is a refreshingly original and surprising film.
Surprising with it's twist and turns and outrageous action scenes- not at all so in its quality.
This is exactly what I have come to expect from not only Shane Black the writer but Shane Black the director.
Wonderful stuff.
RATING: 84 / 100
CONCLUSION: A whole heap of fun with a wildly comic turn from Gosling and terrific chemistry between not only he and Crowe but the duo and the terrific young actress Angourie Rice. Original, delightfully demented stuff.
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, Angourie Rice, Keith David, Matt Bomer, Gil Gerard, Margaret Qualley, Beau Knapp, Lois Smith, Ty Simpkins, Jack Kilmer, Murielle Telio, Angela Everhart
Screenplay: Shane Black & Anthony Bagarozi
Music Score by: David Buckley & John Ottman
Cinematography: Philippe Rousselot
Edited by: Joel Negron
Running Time: 116 minutes
Rated: R16 - Violence, Nudity and Profanity
I was lucky enough to see it early but the reduced price on the preview ticket should have clued me in that the studio wasn't hopeful about it being a huge hit.
Still it was made for next to nothing in Hollywood terms - a modest $15,000,000.
Which is what it ended up making in box office receipts.
Not a financial success then but to me at least a huge one in every other way.
I watch it at least once a year on blu-ray and it gets funnier and funnier every time.
The news that Shane Black was writing and directing another buddy movie of a similar ilk was hugely exciting and "The Nice Guys" sat just under "Captain America: Civil War" and "Rogue One" on my most anticipated list for this year.
The pairing of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling seems like one of those casting ideas so good that it must surely have happened before now but in fact it has not.
It is indeed the heart of "The Nice Guys" just as Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer's pairing was in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"
Crowe, like Kilmer plays the more professional member of the respective pairing although in both cases it is a relative thing.
Gosling takes the Downey Jr like role as the bumbling comic relief who occasionally manages to get something right.
Crowe's Jackson Healey is a heavy paid to beat people. Maybe it is an older guy who needs to be 'encouraged' from exploiting an underage girl or perhaps an arm or two needs to be broken to dissuade a PI from pursuing a missing persons case.
That latter is of course how he meets Gosling's Holland March - a low rent con artist of a PI who we first meet taking money from a grieving widow who is distraught that she hasn't seen her husband 'missing' since his funeral.
Soon the pair are embroiled in a plot that is very definitely a blood brother to that of the twisted, unpredictable but very self aware "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang".
Along for the ride is the extraordinary Australian actress Angourie Rice as Gosling's smarter than her years 13 year old daughter.
More often than not a kid playing a prominent role in a movie like this is a bad idea but Shane Black has consistently shown that it can be effective.
Look at "Iron Man 3" and Ty Simpkins (who gets a role in the opening scene of this film).
The banter between Simpkins and Downey Jr in that film was one of the many things that worked.
Kids can be mixed up in very adult situations without ruining everything.
So it is with Rice who is really very, very good here.
By treating her character as smart, resourceful and far from just a damsel in distress Black has fashioned a character that bridges the two leads and actually enriches them and their reluctant relationship.
 |
| Some of the biggest laughs come from the younger cast members with Australian Angourie Rice a standout |
He has a host of comedic moments throughout the film but the crown jewel is surely the Hollywood party that sees him drunk, swimming with mermaids, falling down off a high balcony and breathlessly gasping screams of distress at the discovery of a bloodied corpse.
It is vintage Shane Black stuff - whatever you are sure is coming next isn't and nothing that happens can ever really be predicated.
And of course no reference exists that won't return later in some form or another be it a wicked punchline or a major plot development.
I am not a fan of Russell Crowe generally but in his defence he gets the shorter end of the script stick but still does a great job.
He is pretty much the straight man here and exists to enable Gosling to play the fool.
He has packed on some serious beef to increase his weight up around 120 kilos for the role.
Apparently he wanted to contrast his character with Gosling's younger, fitter character but the extra beef does suit his 'heavy' role.
The pair look like they are having the time of their lives and it is reflected in how much fun this movie is.
No- it is not as perfectly hilarious as "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" and there are a couple of moments that just don't work.
Matt Bomer's hitman 'John Boy' and Kim Basinger's Justice Department official are also not given enough space to really shine.
Bomer in particular could have done with more screen time - John Boy is a great character with far more to offer than the two or three scenes that he gets.
 |
| Kim Basinger and Matt Bomer - underused |
The music doesn't line up exactly right with The Pina Collada Song and a couple of Earth Wind and Fire songs a couple of years ahead of their actual debut but they do add greatly to the atmosphere.
The fashion and the Boogie Nights-like porn backdrop are a hoot.
It is great seeing afros, flared pants, headbands and frilly shirts all over the place.
And of course there are no cellphones to get in the way of the plot.
On that subject- the plot doesn't make a lot of sense.
Without getting into the finer details for fear of spoilers the entire central spark behind the events here doesn't really add up.
When the truth behind the missing persons, dead porn stars, hitmen and high ranking politicians is revealed you may well scratch your head that all of this mess had to happen at all.
You will know what I mean when you seen it.
Still- there is so much fun to be had regardless that the plot is almost irrelevant beyond enabling a string of strange scenes and characters.
 |
| Crowe and Gosling (with Rice and Qualley - far right) - casting match made in heaven |
It may be 'too odd' for a lot of people and the language, nudity and violence may not suit others.
For me though it is a great mix and I had a lot of fun with this film.
Gosling is terrific, I can't wait to see what young Angourie Rice does next and for once I loved Russell Crowe's work.
This is a refreshingly original and surprising film.
Surprising with it's twist and turns and outrageous action scenes- not at all so in its quality.
This is exactly what I have come to expect from not only Shane Black the writer but Shane Black the director.
Wonderful stuff.
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