The Nice Guys

Shane Black is a big name in the screenwriting world, heck he is a big name in Hollywood in general, and although not everything he has made has been a hit with me, he is still one of the more unique and original voices out there. This is one of the main reasons I went to see The Nice Guys, this and because I love Ryan Gosling…

The Nice Guys follows a pair of mismatched Private Eyes as they investigate the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970’s Los Angeles. First let me commend whoever thought to cast Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as the two leads in this film, because although they may not scream buddy cop comedy gold, they actually provide some of the best laughs in film this year. The chemistry between the two is riveting and even if the story was rubbish (which it’s not!), I could have watched these two guys do anything together and enjoyed the hell out of it. The whole cast is great and there are some really cool characters that join the duo in the fun that I would never have guessed to have worked so well, considering the age of some of those said characters! I’m not spoiling anything for you here, go out and watch this film!

I was worried that this film may have just been Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (in my opinion, Shane Black’s best film) set in the 70’s, and although it shares some similarities, it is not. The idea of this dirty, downtrodden and sex ridden Hollywood works really well and looks great on film. It was great to be watching a film with a contemporary noir aesthetic that was constantly on the move, the film rarely takes a moment to slow down! I was caught from the get go and as you learn more about the characters you get more and more invested in them. It plays out really nicely and I walked out of the cinema with a big smile on my face.

 

It's a very solid film and it looks great too. You can tell that everyone involved was having a great time on set, the comedy really flows and there are only a few moments that feel slightly forced. It was great but it didn’t wow me like the first time I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, that however that is a very tough film to top. As a comedy though, this is still the best one we have seen this year and although we are only halfway through I can’t see any films topping it in the near future.

Need something fun to go see at the cinema this weekend, go watch the The Nice Guys, you won’t regret it! I’m giving the film a rating of 4/5.

What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!