The Nice Guys was right at the top of my must see in 2016 list. A private eye movie, set in the 1970s, written by Shane Black and starring Ryan Gosling, it almost felt made for me. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed as I sat through this with a huge grin on my face during the times that I wasn’t laughing at the frequently funny gags and set pieces.
Gosling plays Holland March, an investigator still trying to recover from the death of his wife whilst trying to bring up his 14 year-old daughter. He has come to accept he can make a living conning his clients out of money whilst making a minimal effort on their cases. He takes a case of finding a missing young woman who he knows is already dead. By chance, he pairs up with thug for hire Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) when their cases coincide. They start to uncover a conspiracy involving the porn industry, the powerful automotive companies and local politicians.
The plot is pretty convoluted and if you were being picky you could say that the central premise of the content of a porn film potentially being disastrous for the car industry is a little hard to believe in. However, it is the characters and the dialogue they share that make this film such a pleasure to watch. Gosling and Crowe – that latter hasn’t been this good for very many years – spar off each other perfectly, with the very funny gags complementing the excellently choreographed action scenes. Additionally, Angourie Rice, who plays March’s daughter is superb, a real star in the making.
Reminiscent of so many of my favourite 1970s and 1980s set films such as Night Moves, The Long Goodbye and Boogie Nights, but with an identity of its own and also firmly a Shane Black film (including the obligatory Christmas set sequence), I absolutely loved this film. Chock-full of wonderful scenes from the opening moments involving a car crashing though a house, March twice falling off a balcony, and his hilarious Bud Abbott impersonation when he finds a body to a sublime moment with March and Healy in a lift.
A must see now, and one that will reward repeated viewings.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10