Truly Dreadful Film

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This movie has everything a comedy title should have. Action, little bit of mistery and a lot, and I mean a lot of funny scenes. Ryan G. as well as Russel C. are brilliant in playing funny characters. Definitely worth the watch if you are in a pursuit in a comedy movie, great 120 min. to spend. I give it an 8/10.

Terrifically fun buddy-cop film throwback from writer/director Shane Black, one of the folks responsible for establishing the 80s action films subgenera with "Lethal Weapon" and "The Last Boy Scout." Set in a scuzzy Boogie Nights looking 1970s L.A., an unlikely duo of smart down on his luck P.I. Holland March, Ryan Gosling, and dimwitted hired thug Jackson Healy, a scene stealing Russell Crowe, form an uneasy alliance in trying to find a missing porn actress named Misty Mountains. From there the plot gets more serpentine and complicated, but what makes this film so fun and worth watching is the banter between Gosling and Crowe, where you get hilariously throwaway moments like:Holland March: Look on the bright side. Nobody got hurt. Jackson Healy: People got hurt. Holland March: I'm saying, I think they died quickly. So I don't think they got hurt.OrJackson Healy: So, you know the old lady, right? Did you believe her? Holland March: What about? Jackson Healy: When she said she saw Misty alive that night, did you believe her? Holland March: God, no. She's blind as a bat. Jackson Healy: Uh-huh. Holland March: She has actual coke bottles for glasses. You paint a mustache on a Volkswagen, she says, "Boy, that Omar Sharif sure runs fast."OrJackson Healy: The place reeks of marijuana. They're smoking it. Holland March: I can't smell. Jackson Healy: What? Holland March: I got hit in the head a while back. I lost my sense of smell. Jackson Healy: You can't smell? Holland March: Yeah. Jackson Healy: You're a detective, and you can't smell? Holland March: Yeah. Jackson Healy: Aw, this just keeps getting better and better. Holland March: Wow, that's really insensitive.Gosling and Crowe have a great chemistry that cries out for a sequel to happen so audiences can enjoy their future adventures in this sleazy 1970s coke filled version of Los Angels (although the film was sadly a box office disappointment). The other standout performer is Angourie Rice, playing Gosling's quick witted and smart-mouthed daughter Holly (reminiscent of Danielle Harris' character in Black's "The Last Boy Scout" as Bruce Willis' smart-mouthed daughter), who has some great banter herself with Crowe's Jackson when she finds out what he does for a living:Holly March: You beat people up and charge money? Jackson Healy: Yeah. Holland March: Sad, isn't it? Holly March: How much would you charge to beat up my friend Janet? Holland March: What? Jackson Healy: How much you got? Holly March: Thirty bucks. Holland March: That's good, this conversation is over.Holly also has some hilarious father/daughter interaction as well, such as when she hides out in the trunk of the car to follow Gosling and Crowe to coke filled party populated with adult film stars and observes:Holly March: Dad, there's like whores here and stuff. Holland March: Sweetheart, how many times have I told you? Don't say "and stuff". Just say "Dad, there are whores here". Holly March: Well, there's like a ton.That last interaction leads to a great callback later in the film when Holly is talking to a young adult film actress that's too inappropriate to repeat here, but it's probably the biggest laugh of the film. Overall, "The Nice Guys" is charmingly retro, from it's use of the 1970s Warners Bros. logo at the film's opening to the fabulous cars and costumes to a fun soundtrack, it all gives the the feel of a politically incorrect R-rated version of The Rockford Files. Keith David, Lois Smith, Gil Gerard, and Kim Basinger also appear in the film.

Yaay, girls screeching at men, "tough guys" beating up rude men but giving obnoxious women a pass, double-standards all over, and of course - hippies "haha so funny" because it's the 70's, right?No, it's garbage, and a waste of time. The main two actors did make a decent duo, and the non-Crowe one is a good comedic actor, probably the only good thing in this movie.But overall it was a waste of time, the plot was unengaging and only some of the slapstick humor worked. Most of the movie was just frustrating double-standards at play and boring Crowe talking with his fantastic emotional range of a saltshaker.And don't forget, hurting men is funny! But women get a pass even when they shoot at you. And comedy is dead - that's the lesson of this movie.

Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are paired in a crime thriller set in 1970s Los Angeles which contains more than its fair share of laughs.Private detective Holland March, engaged on a missing person case, is warned off when hired muscle Jackson Healy beats him up. The two are forced to join forces to search for Amelia, who has become involved in porn - sorry, make that "experimental movies."Shane (Iron Man 3) Black directs and co-writes this period crime thriller in which Ryan Gosling is March and a rather tubby Russell Crowe is Healy. A tolerable crime thriller plot engages the attention throughout, while this pair stumble their way through the search for Amelia. Neither is especially good at their job but fortunately (or, perhaps, unfortunately), March's 13-year old daughter Holly takes it upon herself to assist them from time to time.That's not all, though. If you've seen the trailer, you will know that, although this film has a serious plot, not everything about the delivery is straight-faced. The humour includes some funny dialogue and some great knockabout business and I was delighted to discover that Gosling, who I have previously found to be rather expressionlessly one-note in his previous work, has a definite flair for comedy. I chuckled often, and laughed out loud several times.Yet the jeopardy is quite real, and isn't played for laughs. There is always some genuine danger involved, which means you have an emotional investment in these two well-meaning but somewhat inept sleuths.The action is well-staged, the period feel is authentic (starting with the opening music, very Shaft-theme), Crowe and Gosling have an effective on-screen chemistry, and the cast are all good, especially Angourie Rice, who plays March's daughter Holly. She holds the screen whenever she's on it: keep your eye on her career, she's going places.If I was to criticise, I would say that there is relatively little substance here: the engaging performances and witty script elevate the film above its natural level. And the profanity in it doesn't always service the storytelling: there is much swearing which is here for no other reason than Because F*ck.But this is an entertaining movie with much in it to justify recommendation.