The Nice Guys Movie Review

The Nice Guys (2016)

Ryan Gosling in a physical action-comedy? Whoever thought of the idea should be crowned genius of the year. With dynamite timing and uproarious gestures, Gosling mines his diverse abilities and becomes a blast in The Nice Guys, directed by Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang scribe Shane Black. Cowritten by Black and Anthony Bagarozzi, this nonstop-hilarious buddy-cop film is both a committed rekindling of the old formula Black aced throughout his career and a playful wink to the genre, bouncily walking on the fine line with occasional backflips.

Very NICE

Not that Gosling's character, Holland March, a clumsy, drunken private eye living in 1977 Los Angeles, is exactly a cop, per se. (He's often hired by confused old ladies looking for their dead family members.) And neither is his eventual partner, the ultra-serious tough guy Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe, beefed up and effective), who rakes in hard cash by beating up his clients' enemies.Between a gorgeously grandiose finale, memorable parts for Yaya DaCosta and Kim Basinger and a juicy soundtrack that includes Earth, Wind & Fire and Kool & the Gang, The Nice Guys is the perfect, incredibly crafted yet laid-back procedural we've been starved for. Even when it sometimes seems that the endless jokes are being thrown against a wall to see what sticks, The Nice Guys, on the whole, summons that victorious, innocent feeling of seeing likable heroes win while having fun along the way. It's nice, guys.

Stupidity as an Art of Comedy

The Nice Guys represents the buddy movie genre at its best. Shane Black is a excellent director and a brilliant writer. He knows how to create hilarious characters and how to put them in absurd scenes — absurd in a comic way. The gags are all unexpected; I was constantly asking myself "What the hell is going on?", and then burst into laughter. The plot could seem weird at the beginning, but it's not the main point in this movie, it is only used to create a context to the jokes. People in the theater couldn't stop laughing. There is a new and original joke every two minutes. Russell Crowe plays his part very well, but Ryan Gosling's performance is already cult. All is in the look in his eyes, and that stupid expression on his face. Two stupid and impulsive men in an outrageous world full of porn stars and guns, fighting for...money. And truth, of course. Always the old truth about some kind of conspiracy (the only weakness in the movie). Hopefully, Shane Black doesn't insist too much on that and concentrates himself on the constant jokes. I guarantee you, you will laugh a lot. I know I've just watched an excellent movie when I feel sad during the credits, because it's already over. And then, it's just pure happiness.