The Nice Guys

Dir: Shane Black

2016

****

2016's The Nice Guys is Shane Black doing what Shane Black does best. It's a colourful neo-noir crime comedy set in the late 70s and it oozes style and vibrancy without ever overdoing the era. The Nice Guys are Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe and I'm not sure I have liked either actor as much as I did in this film. The chemistry between them is brilliant and each actor is perfect in his role. Neither actor is seen as a comedy performer, which is puzzling as they have both proved otherwise before, The Nice Guys should put a stop to anyone thinking otherwise from now on. Like you'd expect from a Shane Black movie, the humour lays very close to the mark, it's pretty dark in places but all the better for it. It's funny, I watched the film in a packed cinema. There is nudity, murder, violence and a scene whereby a little girl gets thrown through a glass window but the only time I heard the older women next to me tut was when said little girl said the F-word. Buddy movies are aplenty, they veer between brilliant and awful but I would argue that very few get the tone and the relationship between buddies right. This one does, not just because of the great performances but because the script is just so perfect. I remember being somewhat puzzled by Quentin Tarantino's screenplay nomination for Pulp Fiction back in the day. I was thrilled by a mainstream film going way off formula but I didn't think the script was very good at all. The Nice Guys on the other hand is that perfect blend of to the point and complete irrelevance. It's both funny and refreshing to see people acting in the exact manner most people would when put into a certain situation. Both characters seem to fit a stereotype at first but as the film goes along we see that they are in fact completely original and even a little bit contradictory but in a well written and refreshing manner. It's quite a talent to make an audience laugh just a few seconds after watching someone being brutally murdered and it is a unique talent that Shane Black beholds. It's rare that a film crosses over so many different genres so seamlessly but first and foremost this is a classic nior crime thriller. The funniest one I've ever seen but a crime thriller all the same. Shane Black doesn't do sequels but I hope he at least considers it here as I want to see these characters again.