Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s not very often that a movie comes along that warrants repeat viewing, but Shane Black’s newest The Nice Guys is a film that demands repeat viewing. And that’s a good thing, because the film is so densely packed with good stuff that you are certain to have missed little things here and there.
The story takes place in a perfectly realized, seedy and smog-choked 1977 Los Angeles. Private Investigator Holland March (Ryan Gosling) gladly takes money from people to search for missing loved ones, who are most often already dead (and he knows that). But he accepts a case to “find” a young woman he knows for sure died in a horrific car accident (that opens the film) two days earlier.
Another investigator, Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), is hired out by people to persuade others to stop bothering them, usually with a set of brass knuckles to the kisser. Healy is hired by a young woman to persuade March to stop looking for her, but this is where things get a bit convoluted by a case of mistaken identity that opens up a whole new can of worms involving the porno industry and … the real-life Federal lawsuit against Detroit auto makers for conspiring to delay anti-smog devices (catalytic converters specifically) on cars.
Only Shane Black could take some arcane piece of legal history that most have either forgotten or don’t even know about today and make it a pivotal plot point of a movie. And how this case ties in with the porn industry and the two investigators makes for one of the most entertaining movies of the year so far. It would actually be pointless to even try to explain the intricacies of Black’s plot because The Nice Guys is just something you have to see for yourself to enjoy the experience.
Besides the script and Black’s direction, the cast is a well-oiled machine. Crowe and Gosling act almost as a reverse Abbott and Costello with the heavier-set Healy playing the straight man to the thinner March (in one scene, March has a blatant Lou Costello panic moment when he accidentally comes across a dead body). Crowe’s Healy is a very matter-of-fact kind of guy and nothing really phases him, and the actor plays the part to perfection, especially when he has to juggle not only keeping March out of trouble (after the two realize their cases are related and team up), but appoints himself a guardian to March’s daughter Holly (a terrific Angourie Rice), an apple who doesn’t fall far from the tree, but with a few more smarts than her dad.
Speaking of her dad, Ryan Gosling is a revelation. The actor is more well-known for his intense, dramatic roles, but he has shown a bit of a comic flair in the past. This time he goes all out for the physical and verbal comedy the role requires, but he never becomes a caricature. His March is actually a bit pathetic in the way he knowingly cheats people, usually the elderly, out of their money, and then drinks it all away (13-year-old Holly usually acts as his chauffer). But March also has a dark past when it is revealed what happened to his wife, why he and Holly live in a rental home that she hates, and why Holly spends more time in an empty lot reading than she does at home. Gosling captures all of the nuances of his character and treads a fine line of going over the top, but always reigns himself back in before crossing that line.
Black has packed the film with so much visual and verbal humor that it’s easy to miss a lot of plot points. He’s also got some big names in smaller roles — Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger, Keith David, Yaya DaCosta — but they shine just as brightly under his direction. And classic TV fans may even recognize Buck Rogers himself, Gil Gerard, in a small role near the end of the film at the car show (interestingly, I met Gil Gerard when he made an appearance at a car show when Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was on the air). The period detail and music choices are also right on the money.
It’s only May and there is still quite some time to go before the end of the year, but I am confidently going to say The Nice Guys will end up on my Top Ten list of favorite movies of 2016 (and quite possibly Top Five). I’m not sure how a film that’s going to require audiences to actually pay attention to the plot and dialog is going to play to the summer crowds, but I sure hope the film is a financial success because it would be great to see these two character tackle another case.
A bit of movie trivia: While The Nice Guys is a Warner Bros. film, watch the billboards on Hollywood Blvd. and you’ll see at least three Universal films on display — Smokey and the Bandit, Jaws 2 and Airport ’77.
The Nice Guys has a running time of 1 hour 56 minutes and is rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, language and brief drug use.
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