The Nice Guys

Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B)

Directed by Shane Black
Starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Matt Bomer
Running time:  116 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short:  The Nice Guys provides a nice little change of pace early in the summer movie season, an R-rated buddy-comedy-action-mystery with odd couple stars Crowe and Gosling.  It has its share of flaws, but it also has plenty going for it, too, from laughing with (but mostly at) its stars to a neatly done 70s atmosphere.  Recommended for many, keeping in mind the rating, but you could afford to wait for it on Netflix, too.


It's 1977 in Los Angeles, and two men, Healy (Crowe) and March (Gosling), fulfill the high demand for investigation - and intimidation - in society's shadows.  Not one to pass up an easy payday, March takes up an assignment from an elderly woman who insists that she's seen her apparently murdered niece out and about and is trying to find her.  Meanwhile, Healy makes his living by beating the crap out of creeps who bother regular - and some not-so-regular - civilians.  The two men's lines of work cross paths one day when March suspects that a missing girl is actually the murdered niece he's "looking" for - and the missing girl, Amelia, hires Healy to persuade March to drop the case.

After an unpleasant first meeting, Healy finds himself the target of another interested party looking for Amelia, and so he returns to March to try to find the girl first.  On the promise of a healthy reward, March accepts and the odd couple digs into the mystery together.  As the two wade their way through the seedier parts of 1970s LA, they find themselves at odds with other forces both powerful and very public.

The Nice Guys features a nice cast, led by an odd pair of stars in the lead.  Russell Crowe plays the grizzled old veteran enforcer known as Healy.  Looking stockier and more rumpled than usual, Crowe seems to have enjoyed the part, employing a familiar weary yet committed persona.  Ryan Gosling's character is rumpled as well as he struggles to make ends meet, but deploys his own typical traits in dealing with the job, including a smarmy cynicism.  Both Crowe and Gosling do well as they poke fun of and embrace their familiar character types and try to outdo the other.  But they don't quite click as a team, each working much better when the focus is just on him.  Just as good as these two stars is a young actress named Angourie Rice who plays Holly, March's daughter.  In a striking manner similar to Tomorrowland's Raffey Cassidy, Rice acts with both the skill of an adult and the energy of a child.  Rice easily pulls off the adult-level maturity of young Holly (more mature than her father, in fact) without coming off as pretentious as most child actors do.  There are other small roles, including Matt Bomer as a villain, but none are all that significant.

The Nice Guys is a darkly funny buddy cop adventure with impressive strengths and also its share of weaknesses.  If I was more familiar with the director's work (according to critics), I might have better understood the feel of this film which, while funny, takes its time in developing the core relationship here.  But while it's a little slow to develop, the film excels at introducing its main characters' roles and personalities, as well as the 1970s LA atmosphere complete with soundtrack, clothing, cars, and more funky period touches.  It's actually the second half, once Healy and March are together, that things bog down a bit - not just from the lack of chemistry between the two stars, but a meandering (sometimes bewildering) plot development.  Fortunately the stars, particularly Gosling, keep the humor coming throughout, though fair warning in that it ranges from harmless slapstick to pretty crude stuff.  The violence, which is often paired with humor, can also be intense (though not very gory).  Young Holly adds an odd dimension to the film; she plays an important part, providing more emotional depth for both of the main characters but also sometimes uncomfortably out of place in this often crude and bloody film.

***

The Nice Guys is a fun movie, worth seeing despite its flaws.  Many genre films struggle to standout among their peers, and this film's stars, along with the surprise from young Rice, allows it to do so.  They aren't ultimately among the best duos, but Crowe and Gosling each bring highly entertaining individual work to the film.  The atmosphere and tone are just right and it's pretty darn funny, even if the plot is tangled and it takes a few pace-killing diversions (the film is a little too long).  Its strengths are enough for me to recommend it to most, as some will probably like it considerably more than me even if others may like it less.  Your enjoyment, or lack thereof, of the R-rated elements will probably determine where you stand (love it, hate it, or, like me, somewhere in the middle).



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