If you're eyeballs need a break from CGI...
Director Shane Black’s conspiracy of politics, corporations, and the conflict of American moral values set at the height of the country’s cultural revolution, features a cast of A level talent that captures exactly what works about the Buddy Cop comedy and why it died out.
Ryan Gosling plays Holland March, a skilled and occasionally gifted private investigator struggling to become a better father to his preteen daughter that is unfortunately sabotaged by his own cynicism induced alcoholism, bumbling, and general idiocy.
After crossing paths with Healy (Russell Crowe), a slightly more optimistic yet substantially more blunt and violent PI after coming across the same person of interest in separate cases, the 2 begin to unravel a criminal conspiracy involving the automotive corporations, political scandal, and even the porn industry at a time when all 3 were in a state of major upheaval in American society.
I stress the period piece nature of “The Nice Guys” because, in true Shane Black fashion, just about every possible aspect of the writing that can come full circle more or less does. The film is littered with elements of deconstructive parody that punch the wind out of every notion this world and its characters represent.
The romance of PI work is stripped to the bone, showing how petty and unpleasant unsanctioned people that are paid to dig into other’s business are and many of the noir story conventions and political notions of a revolting youth culture and changing governmental landscape go south on the cast in a production that is self aware of what it is with a cast that is about as far removed from self awareness as possible, with hilarious and occasionally sobering results.
The Rebel youth with a cause but no plan have their hollow protests and socially selfish motivations regularly torn down by an older generation which themselves seem to be more or less self defeating, with nobody getting off scot-free.
I’d almost be tempted to call its examination of seventies culture a more insightful and generally better made pass at what Paul Anderson’s “Inherent Vice” attempted roughly a year and a half ago but ultimately that’s not the true purpose of “The Nice Guys.”
For all the commentary the film has about its culture and setting, “The Nice Guys” has no particular delusions of grandeur. It may be a sly, subtle, self aware buddy cop noir comedy about everything that would feed into a major turning point of American society at large but it’s still first and foremost a buddy cop noir comedy. That the writing is so strong in a genre that reached oversaturation decades ago is a welcome delicious icing but the true bread and butter of these stories, which has apparently gone over the head of network executives who seem to think a Lethal Weapon television series was demanding to be made, is the talent involved in bringing these characters and the world that they inhabit to life.
That’s what “The Nice Guys” knocks out of the park.
Gosling gives what might be the best performance of his career as a loser with more potential than he truly seems to let on. He’s an almost terminal screw up but with few moments of brilliance so powerful that it keeps you from outright hating him and with enough well intentioned sincerity that you actually do hope he manages to come out on top. Crowe serves as his perfect foil as a man that is wise beyond his years but when you really get right down to it, isn’t particularly great at his job beyond punching and shooting his way out of scenarios with an admittedly loveable and charismatic charm akin to the mafia man looking out for the good folks of his neighborhood.
The dynamite chemistry of the duo grounds each other enough to prevent either performance from entering the territory of too cartoonish despite getting into setpieces that occasionally undercut the cleverness of its subversions. An early scene involving Gosling trying to break-in to an establishment via glass window is one of the hardest laughs that I’ve had in the theater that kind of gets undercut by the two plowing through windows actively by the time of the third act.
Angourie Rice steals the show as March’s perceptive and loving but no nonsense daughter, who desperately wants to see her father live up to his potential. She’s cute, slightly precocious and realistically intelligent enough to help two detectives whose heads can get stuck up their own asses work through the ruts of their investigation despite the fact that any sane person would remove her far from this craziness as soon as humanly possible, something that never really sticks in a proper capacity.
Little hiccups like these rear their heads regularly throughout the film but despite their undeniable noticeability, the final product is still a lean, well paced, and consistently funny blast that’s a cut above the usual special effect driven schlock that dominates the summer.
“The Nice Guys” may not set out to be a lofty statement on its subject matter or pretend to be any deeper than a wonderfully crafted comedic set up with a great punch line but the little nuances of its writing don’t go unnoticed and they go a long way with the strong execution of the material to make a film that is just about the best version of what it sets out to be regardless of its smaller misgivings.
Ryan Gosling plays Holland March, a skilled and occasionally gifted private investigator struggling to become a better father to his preteen daughter that is unfortunately sabotaged by his own cynicism induced alcoholism, bumbling, and general idiocy.
After crossing paths with Healy (Russell Crowe), a slightly more optimistic yet substantially more blunt and violent PI after coming across the same person of interest in separate cases, the 2 begin to unravel a criminal conspiracy involving the automotive corporations, political scandal, and even the porn industry at a time when all 3 were in a state of major upheaval in American society.
I stress the period piece nature of “The Nice Guys” because, in true Shane Black fashion, just about every possible aspect of the writing that can come full circle more or less does. The film is littered with elements of deconstructive parody that punch the wind out of every notion this world and its characters represent.
The romance of PI work is stripped to the bone, showing how petty and unpleasant unsanctioned people that are paid to dig into other’s business are and many of the noir story conventions and political notions of a revolting youth culture and changing governmental landscape go south on the cast in a production that is self aware of what it is with a cast that is about as far removed from self awareness as possible, with hilarious and occasionally sobering results.
The Rebel youth with a cause but no plan have their hollow protests and socially selfish motivations regularly torn down by an older generation which themselves seem to be more or less self defeating, with nobody getting off scot-free.
I’d almost be tempted to call its examination of seventies culture a more insightful and generally better made pass at what Paul Anderson’s “Inherent Vice” attempted roughly a year and a half ago but ultimately that’s not the true purpose of “The Nice Guys.”
For all the commentary the film has about its culture and setting, “The Nice Guys” has no particular delusions of grandeur. It may be a sly, subtle, self aware buddy cop noir comedy about everything that would feed into a major turning point of American society at large but it’s still first and foremost a buddy cop noir comedy. That the writing is so strong in a genre that reached oversaturation decades ago is a welcome delicious icing but the true bread and butter of these stories, which has apparently gone over the head of network executives who seem to think a Lethal Weapon television series was demanding to be made, is the talent involved in bringing these characters and the world that they inhabit to life.
That’s what “The Nice Guys” knocks out of the park.
Gosling gives what might be the best performance of his career as a loser with more potential than he truly seems to let on. He’s an almost terminal screw up but with few moments of brilliance so powerful that it keeps you from outright hating him and with enough well intentioned sincerity that you actually do hope he manages to come out on top. Crowe serves as his perfect foil as a man that is wise beyond his years but when you really get right down to it, isn’t particularly great at his job beyond punching and shooting his way out of scenarios with an admittedly loveable and charismatic charm akin to the mafia man looking out for the good folks of his neighborhood.
The dynamite chemistry of the duo grounds each other enough to prevent either performance from entering the territory of too cartoonish despite getting into setpieces that occasionally undercut the cleverness of its subversions. An early scene involving Gosling trying to break-in to an establishment via glass window is one of the hardest laughs that I’ve had in the theater that kind of gets undercut by the two plowing through windows actively by the time of the third act.
Angourie Rice steals the show as March’s perceptive and loving but no nonsense daughter, who desperately wants to see her father live up to his potential. She’s cute, slightly precocious and realistically intelligent enough to help two detectives whose heads can get stuck up their own asses work through the ruts of their investigation despite the fact that any sane person would remove her far from this craziness as soon as humanly possible, something that never really sticks in a proper capacity.
Little hiccups like these rear their heads regularly throughout the film but despite their undeniable noticeability, the final product is still a lean, well paced, and consistently funny blast that’s a cut above the usual special effect driven schlock that dominates the summer.
“The Nice Guys” may not set out to be a lofty statement on its subject matter or pretend to be any deeper than a wonderfully crafted comedic set up with a great punch line but the little nuances of its writing don’t go unnoticed and they go a long way with the strong execution of the material to make a film that is just about the best version of what it sets out to be regardless of its smaller misgivings.
8 Naïve Hippies out of 10
Great review. Gosling is fantastic in this.
ReplyDelete- Zach
Right on with this review. Loved the movie.
ReplyDelete