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Midway through Shane Black’s lighthearted comedy “The Nice Guys,” a scene occurs in which Ryan Gosling’s truly mediocre private investigator stumbles down a hill while drunkenly attempting to impress a girl at a party. As he will do several times throughout the film, he literally falls into a clue, this time a rotting corpse of someone he’s been looking for for quite some time. In the event that he comes face to face with it, what does Gosling do? He doesn’t respond in the manner of a typical movie star, who is nonchalant. Not only that, but he goes even further into his comedy movie bag of tricks and pulls out, of all things, a Lou Costello impression—that wonderful, silent scream the actor would do when he saw something as terrifying as the Wolfman. There are several instances of physical comedy in “The Nice Guys” that Gosling pulls off, and it is one of the most hysterical moments in the film. If you combine her excellent straight man performance with Russell Crowe’s excellent straight man performance, the two actors form a surprising brilliant comedy duo, carrying “The Nice Guys” past a few flat jokes, some needed edits, and a cluttered conclusion.
Holland March, played by Ryan Gosling, is a pathetic private investigator whose wife died in a house explosion, leaving him with an alcohol problem and the responsibility of being the sole parent of Holly, a 13-year-old girl (the naturally gifted Angourie Rice). March has been hired to track down a porn star by the name of Misty Mountains, who we know was killed in a car crash. In the film’s opening scene, a young boy waits until his parents have fallen asleep before pulling out a porno magazine and gazing lovingly at the centerfold model, who turns out to be Ms. Mountains. Just then, a car careens through his yard and down the L.A. hillside, causing him to lose control. When the kid gets to the car, he discovers Misty herself, splayed out in a position similar to the one she was in in the centerfold, but she’s bloody and on her deathbed. He shields her from view. Right away, Black establishes the theme of a dark world in which the “good guys” muster up as much decency as they can, even if it means covering up the body of someone you were swooning over minutes earlier.
As part of his search for Misty, March decides to track down a woman who has recently worked on a porno with her, Amelia (Margaret Qualley), who also happens to have hired a muscle guy named Jackson Healy (Crowe) to protect her. Healy is a notch or two below your typical City of Angels private investigator, the kind of guy you hire more for the ability to send a message with brass knuckles than for the ability to locate someone. Consequently, he sends a message to March, telling him that he should abandon his search for Amelia. The moment March and Healy realize that something very strange is going on with the dead-but-not-dead porn star and everyone else involved with a particular adult production, they band together in a style reminiscent of Shane Black. “Lethal Weapon” was written and directed by this man, who is also known for his underappreciated directorial effort “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” This particular piece, however, has more in common with his underappreciated directorial effort “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.”
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“The Nice Guys” is a dark comedy set in a time when John F. Kennedy has died, poverty is on the rise, corruption is rampant, the Hollywood sign is on its way down, and porn is as successful as the automobile industry. “The Nice Guys” is directed by David O. Russell (I love the parallel party sequences, one celebrating adult film and one celebrating car manufacturers … they look nearly identical other than the degree of nudity). It’s really about people who are struggling to keep their heads above water, and about what it takes to maintain some semblance of decency in an increasingly indecent world, in the end. Despite this, Black is astute enough not to elevate his leading men to the status of saints. When it comes to getting the job done and getting out of the way, Healy is a blunt instrument. He understands what should and should not be done in the name of a paying client. His intention is for you to lose your arm, but he has a good reason for doing so. March is an alcoholic who has little interest in dealing with that particular problem right now; there are more pressing issues to deal with. In the scene where Healy says heroically, “We’re going to hunt down the people who did it,” and March responds with a perfectly timed, “for a deeply discounted rate,” one of the film’s operating beliefs can be summed up. According to the time period depicted, everyone in this cesspool of a city receives a cut, including the good guys, as the story is set in a time when a 13-year-old can be the only remaining, decent voice of reason.
The Nice Guys Quiz
Even though the cast is flawless, “The Nice Guys” could have benefited from one or two more rewrites and another trip to the editing bay in order to streamline jokes that don’t work and a plot that becomes more cluttered than engaging at times. It isn’t until an actual villain (Matt Bomer) appears more than an hour into the film that you realize that there was never a villain in the first place (although one could argue the entire city of L.A. is the bad guy). Furthermore, some of the scenes become repetitive before the film is finished. Although we already know that Holly is the brains behind the operation, Healy is the brawn, and March is the bumbling hero who holds the group together until they figure it out for themselves, I wish the film had another surprise up its sleeve, a narrative turn that felt more fresh than the inevitable Shane Black Shootout that awaits at the film’s conclusion.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this The Nice Guys quiz.
Having said that, I believe the choreography of “The Nice Guys” is the most underappreciated aspect of the entire production. Without giving anything away, the final sequence features Gosling chasing after something and falling on car hoods, into windshields, and even over his own two feet during the process. As opposed to the suave hero you’ll see in a dozen other summer blockbusters this year, he’s a little more gruff. The performance is flawless, as it is throughout the entire film, thanks to Gosling’s performance. He may not be the hero that Los Angeles desperately needs in the 1970s, but he is the hero that Los Angeles has in the 1970s. In fact, it’s his gift for slapstick, combined with his fantastic chemistry with Crowe, that elevates these “Nice Guys” to a worthwhile viewing experience. For the first time in recent memory, I’d be willing to watch another adventure with these three characters at the forefront of the story. Maybe they’ll get a break after all this time.
For more personality quizzes check this: Risen Quiz.
