Review: ‘The Nice Guys’

“The Nice Guys” is a return to the modernized film noir private detective template that writer and director Shane Black previously played with in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” and like that movie, here we have a pair of men who don’t exactly get along but find themselves having to work together to unravel a conspiracy that have unwittingly stumbled upon, with wise cracks and dead bodies peppered in their wake. That is to say, for the most part. this movie is a good time.

For the most part because “The Nice Guys” isn’t afraid to get dark or a little real here and there, as both characters deal with alcohol addiction the whole time, with one abstaining and the other indulging, and this takes them down some dark paths, especially when it comes to how it affects the lives of those close to them. Also there’s some murdering, and sometimes it is played for laughs, and other times characters openly talk about how stuff like this makes them bad people, and they don’t want to be bad people, but sadly that might be the case no matter how hard they try. They want to be nice guys, but one is drunk and will take your money and the other is violent and fond of his brass knuckles.

Set in Los Angeles in 1977, the biggest problems of the day are the ubiquitous porn industry, apparently run by the mob, and the thick smog covering the city, choking people and birds alike. But these are not problems for private detective Holland March (Ryan Gosling), who is more focused on barely scraping up enough money to support his daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) and to booze it up, and of course being a private detective in Los Angeles means getting wrapped up in some unwanted trouble. This happens when a job requires him to track down some girl named Amelia (Margaret Qualley), and this becomes a problem for him because Amelia hired professional enforcer and leg breaker Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) to get March and anyone else after her to back off. Naturally this leads to the two of them getting off on the wrong foot but eventually having a need to work together, as Holland’s little missing person’s case turns into a massive conspiracy, with the body count around the two of them steadily rising.

In classic film noir fashion, the exact nature of the plot isn’t the important part – if you think it is, ask anyone to describe the plot of “The Maltese Falcon” and see what happens. One clue leads to another and the main characters stumble around in the dark, sometimes literally falling ass backwards into the answer, and it is all just an excuse to hang out with these characters and watch them bicker and argue with each other as well as work together to figure out what the hell is happening. Classic misdirects, a double cross or two, some drinking, lots of cigarettes, and there you have it, an old school private eye story, and although it it set in 1977, it still feels modern and contemporary in its presentation and style in a good way, like this is the best version of this kind of movie possible right now.

Because the jokes work, thanks both to the wit of Shane Black, on display since the 1980’s in movies, and the timing and chemistry of Gosling and Crowe, not exactly the first pairing that would come to mind when one thinks comedy duo. But alas they are both great in this movie and play off each other really well, and another wacky go around with these two as these characters would be quite welcome. But then again, I thought the same think about the Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer pairing from “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and they never went back to that particular well, so I won’t be holding my breath. Just like Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, the exactly details of the ridiculous plot doesn’t matter, it’s getting to read another story featuring this character because that’s the sell, and being central to “The Nice Guys,” these characters are pretty great together, which makes for a damn entertaining movie.