The Nice Guys: An Excellent Buddy Action/Comedy Film
With the plethora of mediocre movies out there, there is no greater satisfaction in the realm of film viewing than to leave a movie theater fully satisfied with a grin plastered on your face. Thankfully, I was able to experience this after my view of Shane Black new neo-noir/buddy-comedy film “The Nice Guys.”
The Nice Guys stars Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, in roles that are a far cry from their typical dramatic appearances. Crowe plays an enforcer in the 1977 L.A, who pairs up with alcoholic private investigator Ryan Gosling to solve a case of the possible murder of a porn star and a girl who seems to have a kiss of death with anyone she comes in contact with. Along the way we see bullets fly, alcohol flow, bodies pile up, an angel in the form of Richard Nixon, and hear Gosling scream like a girl on numerous (hysterical) occasions.
The chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe is perfect, and is also bolstered by a strong performance from the young, and relatively unknown, Angourie Rice, who plays Gosling’s young and feisty teen daughter. Some of the best scenes in the film aren’t necessarily the action ones (which are most certainly excellent) but the ones in which Gosling and Crowe are simply making small talk with each other between climactic sequences.
Furthermore, Shane Black’s envisioning of the 70s Hollywood scene provides the perfect setting for all the mayhem that happens in the film. Sure, you have to suspend your belief a significant amount like any action movie, but when a gun goes off at some high end Hollywood porno premier party, it’s much easier to just say “hey, it’s just the 70s!” And come on, who doesn’t think Gosling was born to rock bleach white bell-bottoms.
By the end of the film you really feel like you’ve had a blast with these characters, and statistically sequel buddy-comedy films don’t usually end up doing nearly as well as their predecessors, I for one certainly wouldn’t mind seeing these two pair up again.
The Nice Guys is definitely a film worth watching, as it’s certainly a fresh addition to the well-worn genre of buddy-cop comedy films and will keep you laughing the entire time (I know I did!). Hopefully, this isn’t the last we see of Jackson Healy and Holland March…
