What do you get when you mix the mystery and intrigue of L.A. Confidential with the endearing dark comedy of Lars and the Real Girl? You get The Nice Guys, of course. With witty one-liners, explosive firefights, amateur pornstars, and a sprawling government conspiracy, The Nice Guys has just about everything you could possibly ask for in a movie. The 2016 action-comedy from Shane Black takes the buddy-cop genre and injects it with slapstick set-pieces and charming narratives that will be sure to leave a smile on your face. Throw in a couple of outstanding performances from stars Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling and you have an amazing film that is a must-watch for any movie buff.
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The Nice Guys might not have won or even been nominated for any major awards, but it’s a movie that is fun to watch, and that’s all that should matter, right? Not only does the film not take itself too seriously, but it is obvious from the very start that Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling each had a blast while making it. The Nice Guys might look like your typical detective movie, but as you watch everything unfold in front of you, it becomes clear that it marches to the beat of its own drum.
Follow the Money
As a movie that essentially blends a dozen different genres into one, The Nice Guys is not afraid to divert your expectations. Set in 1977, the film follows the exploits of the bumbling private eye, Holland March (Ryan Gosling), and Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), a brutish freelance enforcer who is paid to rough up people who deserve to get their bell rung. The two men inadvertently become partners in a convoluted and seemingly endless conspiracy when a young woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley) mysteriously disappears. Healy and March soon learn that Amelia is on the run from a group of dangerous people who are also looking for her, in an attempt to permanently silence her. As Healy and March get closer to finding out the truth about why Amelia is being hunted, they find themselves trapped in a massive million-dollar cover-up that could cost them their lives.
If you’re looking to watch a by-the-numbers detective thriller that’s as gritty as it is heartbreaking, then The Nice Guys probably isn’t something you’d like. The movie is a wild ride filled with colorful characters that all have something interesting to say. Qualley might not have received top billing, but her kinetic performance as Amelia was a precursor to what she was capable of in films such as The Substance, which was recently crowned as the best horror movie in our Golden Issue Awards 2024. As March’s smart-mouth and wise-beyond-her-years daughter, Angourie Rice (Spider-Man Home Trilogy) also delivered a very strong performance that proved she has the acting chops to hang with stars like Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. So it’s unfortunate that the odds are low we’ll see her in a possible The Nice Guys sequel.
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Two is Better Than One
If Shane Black knows anything, it’s how to create a compelling pair of characters that couldn’t be any more different yet work perfectly with each other. In 1987, Black wrote the iconic buddy cop movie, Lethal Weapon. Starring Danny Glover and Mel Gibson, Lethal Weapon is an essential reference point when creating a buddy cop flick. Gibson has even offered up a Lethal Weapon 5 update to possibly continue the franchise. In 2005, Black wrote and directed Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, which stars Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer as a mismatched pair of unofficial partners caught up in a mysterious investigation. With The Nice Guys, Russel Crowe and Ryan Gosling continue the trend of characters who have nothing in common, but for one reason or another, simply click when partnering up.
Almost like an older version of Bud White in L.A. Confidential, Russel Crowe’s performance as Healy is a nuanced performance filled with restraint and a burning rage building deep inside of him. And while Healy is an obvious tough guy who lets his fists do the talking first, he still retains the quality of a good guy that makes him easy to root for. On the flip side, Ryan Gosling’s performance as March takes the physical comedy of prime Jim Carrey and tosses in a dose of sneaky intellect to legitimize his choice of profession. March is a man who uses booze to hide the obvious pain from his past, but he is a great detective when he wants to be. When paired together, Healy and March are a compelling duo who are sometimes in sync and always entertaining. Thanks to performances from Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, and the rest of the cast, The Nice Guys is more than just nice, it’s amazing.
You can rent The Nice Guys on Amazon Prime.
