REVIEW: THE NICE GUYS
The odd couple troupe is one of the oldest cinema can offer: but if it ain't broke, right? The joy of The Nice Guys, a good turnaround for acclaimed writer/director Shane Black, who we last saw helm Iron Man 3, is seeing these two Oscar-nominated actors play the camera for laughs. You don't think belly laughs when you think of Russell Crowe. Ryan Gosling was in last year's Oscar-winning comedy The Big Short, and he was pretty funny it, and we know he has chops from his "SNL" appearance. But they're generally seen as dramatic actors, so the joy of seeing them drive around 1970's L.A. with a hallucinatory creature is pretty spectacular.
The plot (for a mystery, anyway) is much pretty straightforward, with a few curves and backtracks to make it juicy. Healy, a "hit man," as I like to call him, because he pretty much just punches you in the face (Crowe) comes to private eye Holland March's (Gosling) door, breaks his arm and tells him to not pursue looking for Amelia Kutner, someone one of March's clients paid him to look for. When Healy goes back to his office, he's bombarded by two thugs, one of them the golden-voiced Keith David, the other (known as Blue Face, and I'll have you find out why) played by newcomer Beau Knapp, who makes his cartoonish, yippy role memorable here. Why are they there: to see what Healy knows about Amelia. He escapes from them, and returns to the now one-armed March, in that wonderful bathroom stall sequence the studio spoiled in the trailers. It's golden physical comedy. He wants them to team up to find Amelia. What do you think March says?
Crowe and Gosling have dynamite chemistry, but the movie is absolutely a trio. Angourie Rice plays Holly, March's tweenage daughter. At first, she seems a little like a nuisance, like so many kid actors who are probably talented but goaded to play the annoying brat who forces their adult guardians into unwanted situations. Holly does that in the beginning but it's instrumental to the plot going forward. She's a huge, completely necessary help to not only the boys solving the crime, but a key in March's redemptive storyline. Despite Healy taking a few bodies, both main characters are actually pretty nice, considering these types of stories usually feature chipped, hard-boiled men who call women dames and inhale whisky with their cigarette smoke.
After cranking out a mystery whodunit of my own this past summer that at least tries to be suspenseful and tie up all the loose ends, I can personally testify I don't envy the writing aspect of producing a crime movie. While the laughs come at you frequently and more than often land, the script is also the movie's weakness. When the Big Bad is revealed (and it's actually sooner than you'd expect) the motivation of him/her falls a little flat. And with mysteries, you're only as strong as your reveal. But, in a world full of cinema that's remaking itself from 30 years ago (in a stab at being...relevant?) this movie is highly welcome. Look at the box office for right now (June 6th), and just look at the top five movies, not even the top ten. You have a sequel to a reboot at number one, a sequel to a franchise at #2, a sequel that tanked at #4, and...a movie based on an app at #5. In a stronger, more creative year, maybe The Nice Guys, like it's ragtag duo wouldn't be the hottest on the block. But original ideas and concepts will always get my seal of approval, and The Nice Guys is pulpy, violent, very comical R-rated fun.
Rating: 3/4 stars
The plot (for a mystery, anyway) is much pretty straightforward, with a few curves and backtracks to make it juicy. Healy, a "hit man," as I like to call him, because he pretty much just punches you in the face (Crowe) comes to private eye Holland March's (Gosling) door, breaks his arm and tells him to not pursue looking for Amelia Kutner, someone one of March's clients paid him to look for. When Healy goes back to his office, he's bombarded by two thugs, one of them the golden-voiced Keith David, the other (known as Blue Face, and I'll have you find out why) played by newcomer Beau Knapp, who makes his cartoonish, yippy role memorable here. Why are they there: to see what Healy knows about Amelia. He escapes from them, and returns to the now one-armed March, in that wonderful bathroom stall sequence the studio spoiled in the trailers. It's golden physical comedy. He wants them to team up to find Amelia. What do you think March says?
Crowe and Gosling have dynamite chemistry, but the movie is absolutely a trio. Angourie Rice plays Holly, March's tweenage daughter. At first, she seems a little like a nuisance, like so many kid actors who are probably talented but goaded to play the annoying brat who forces their adult guardians into unwanted situations. Holly does that in the beginning but it's instrumental to the plot going forward. She's a huge, completely necessary help to not only the boys solving the crime, but a key in March's redemptive storyline. Despite Healy taking a few bodies, both main characters are actually pretty nice, considering these types of stories usually feature chipped, hard-boiled men who call women dames and inhale whisky with their cigarette smoke.After cranking out a mystery whodunit of my own this past summer that at least tries to be suspenseful and tie up all the loose ends, I can personally testify I don't envy the writing aspect of producing a crime movie. While the laughs come at you frequently and more than often land, the script is also the movie's weakness. When the Big Bad is revealed (and it's actually sooner than you'd expect) the motivation of him/her falls a little flat. And with mysteries, you're only as strong as your reveal. But, in a world full of cinema that's remaking itself from 30 years ago (in a stab at being...relevant?) this movie is highly welcome. Look at the box office for right now (June 6th), and just look at the top five movies, not even the top ten. You have a sequel to a reboot at number one, a sequel to a franchise at #2, a sequel that tanked at #4, and...a movie based on an app at #5. In a stronger, more creative year, maybe The Nice Guys, like it's ragtag duo wouldn't be the hottest on the block. But original ideas and concepts will always get my seal of approval, and The Nice Guys is pulpy, violent, very comical R-rated fun.
Rating: 3/4 stars
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