The Nice Guys:
After a girl named Amelia goes missing and a death occurs, bumbling, alcoholic private investigator Holland March is put on the case. Eventually, he crosses paths with Jackson Healy, an ex-something-or-other who now has made a business for himself as a hired muscle of sorts. The two eventually decide to team up when both are targeted by some hitmen and mob enforcers, leading them to believe that Amelia's disappearance and the nearby death are linked, and are tied to a much larger conspiracy.
Shane Black goes back to his pseudo-noir roots with this pulpy action-comedy piece. From the opening reels, I was reminded of films like Chinatown and games like L.A. Noire, not just for the setting, but also because I knew going in there would be some sort of conspiracy (the trailers make that clear), and I could see the clues being dropped immediately. This is not to discredit the film at all, however, as Black throws in plenty of curveballs and twists that make just guessing how it all fits together impossible until all the pieces are revealed masterfully. I also loved how the conspiracy plot, once shown in its' full scope, is not as deadly serious as one might expect and fits the film's crazy, fun universe.
Black's dialogue has always be whip-smart and funny, but this is arguably his best work in comedy. My God, I didn't even realize how much I loved the film or the dialogue until me and my brother who I saw it with started quoting it constantly. It's really a brilliant and highly-quotable film.
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling have terrific chemistry on screen and show their range here. Crowe, while used to roles as the badass fighter character or the stoic hero, has a lot more fun with the role here, and is a lot more likable and even sometimes giddy than the trailers portray. Gosling trades in his usual role of the stone-faced, brutal anti-hero from films like Drive, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Only God Forgives for a goofy, flawed, weak-willed, lethargic private eye who needs his 13-year-old daughter to drive him from bar to bar. Speaking of which, the unofficial third part of the group is Angourie Rice as Holly. While her strange fixation on not killing got irritating at times, she ultimately is far more endearing and funny than any of the typical annoying kid sidekicks. She has great father-daughter chemistry with Gosling on screen, and even Crowe and her share some touching moments.
Kim Basinger, Keith David, Beau Knapp, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Yaya DaCosta and Lois Smith fill out the rest of the principle cast, with memorable cameos by Murielle Telio, Ty Sympkins (a Shane Black alum), Jack Kilmer (the son of a Shane Black alum, Val Kilmer), and Hannibal Burress. All these players do fantastic jobs, but I can't really delve much into each part without spoilers.
The action in this film, like in Lethal Weapon or other detective/buddy cop movies, is not the usual explosions and CG battles. It is more subdued, but no less fun or exciting. There aren't many true set-pieces until the final act, but the witty dialogue and slowly unraveling and increasingly crazy mystery was plenty to keep me engaged. This is a movie that feel longer than it is, in a good way. At only just shy of 2 hours, it was the shortest summer movie I've seen thus far, and it felt much more satisfying as a film than any others. It didn't feel like a bigger part of a franchise puzzle, and didn't feel cheap, and while there was room left for a sequel, it didn't pander, and that I respect more than anything I think. (The soundtrack, sets, and costumes were also fantastic, really giving an oversaturation that "this is the 70's!" that fit the comic book-y tone of the movie very well).
The Nice Guys is an awesome ride, and is probably the best summer movie out right now, despite not really being typical summer movie fare. It's wild, hilarious, thrilling, and just a ton of fun, probably the most fun movie I've seen since last year's Mad Max: Fury Road, though the two are drastically different movies. 7.5/10 stars.
(Image: Wikipedia)
No comments:
Post a Comment