Believe the hype: The Nice Guys is one of the best movies of the year.
In fact, this is the funniest movie I have seen since What We Do in the Shadows. Hilarious and irreverent, these nice guys finish first! Sorry. That’s ridiculous. I’m trying to perfect the Quotable One Liner with the hope to become the next Peter Travers. It’s a tough gig to be that cheesy and asinine. Let me try one more time and then we can move on….
The nice guys are the new bad boys of action comedy movies. Sorry Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
Ok. I read that back out loud and I’m pretty sure that’s even worse than “these nice guys finish first!” It’s upsetting. No one likes to feel like a failure. I’ll just let that sit for a bit. Remind me to edit this out please.
Back on track… Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe play reluctant partners tasked with solving a missing daughter case. Gosling as Holland March drinks too much as he makes terrible life decisions while Crowe plays Jackson Healy, a strong arm with a demon-temper that clouds his judgement at inopportune times. To keep the tone light, the pair is shadowed by Holland’s daughter, Holly (Angourie Rice) who gets them out of more trouble than they are able to avoid without guidance.
The Nice Guys exudes chemistry between the actors. Writer/Director Shane Black sets the pace around Gosling and Crowe at a wonderful clip and both players fit right into the groove. Black was known as wunderkind back in the mid-80’s when he wrote the screenplay for Lethal Weapon and this film captures that tone. He’s rather gifted at writing deeply -flawed characters that you still want to root for. The Nice Guys also holds a resemblance to Black’s directorial debut, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but it doesn’t feel as if he is repeating himself. What he’s doing here is perfecting the Shane Black movie.
Original and exhilarating, The Nice Guys is the best thing going at the theaters and you are commanded to watch it.
Wait! There it is. My Quotable One-liner. “ You are commanded to watch it.”
And look at it this way, here’s your rare chance to see a movie that isn’t about superheroes. That’s worth the price of a ticket right there.
Also, for your viewing enjoyment…..