World's Worst Detective

The Nice Guys

Does anyone remember the ‘buddy’ action comedy? Surely someone remembers some of the best action/comedy films like 48 Hours (the film said to be the first of this genre), Spies Like Us, and yes even Rush Hour. The genre blossomed in the 1980s and seemed to just linger around for the past thirty years because audiences can’t get enough of bickering people being put together in dangerous situations with a slight hint of humor. One of the quintessential buddy action comedies came in 1987 when a suicidal Mel Gibson was teamed up with aging Danny Glover on the brink of retirement from the police force. Lethal Weapon is one the most memorable action/comedies and a film the helped solidify Gibson has an action hero. The man that wrote that amazing script has branched on his own to direct a few films, most recently Iron Man 3, and is now back with an original script that he has directed.

The Story: The city is Los Angeles, CA. The year is 1977. Private Investigator Holland March (Ryan Gosling Drive) is searching for the niece of a new client. The person that he is searching for just happens to be recently deceased porn actress Misty Mountains (Murielle Telio Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD). Determined to stretch out his search as much as possible, March does as little work on the case but happens to stumble on to a lead; a young woman who happens to know Misty, Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley The Leftovers). What March doesn’t know, however, is that Amelia knows that he is looking for her so hires a Muscle Man, Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe Gladiator), to “tell” March to stop looking for her. After his confrontation with March, Healy returns home to find two men in his apartment. The two men begin to beat him for information on Amelia and Healy soon realizes that he has stepped into something that in way above his head. Healy, now determined to find Amelia himself, turns to March to help him with his task. The two must now team together to find answers about why Misty was murdered and what part the daughter of Los Angeles District Attorney has to do with it.

The Good: It will come to no surprise to true fans of writer/director Shane Black that this film was awesome. From the mind that brought the world Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (#45 of the Must Haves list) Black has brought us some very interesting characters and some great action/comedy films. This time around with The Nice Guys, Black doesn’t disappoint at all. Black creates more awesome characters and a story that on paper seems to have been done before, yet feels fresh and new. Even though Black does a great job creating these eccentric characters, it is Gosling and Crowe that really give them life. As much as I enjoyed Gosling and Crowe apart, the real magic of this film comes out when these two are on screen together. The chemistry that Gosling and Crowe have may even be better than Gibson and Glover. It’s a very tight race I swear.

The Bad: If I had to really nitpick at this film, which I hate to do with such a great movie, is the plot holes that arise during the film. SPOILERS BEWARE Somewhere in the middle of the film we learn that Gosling’s character March lost his sense of smell. We then later learn that the lack of smell aided in the destruction of his house. Now we are to assume because Gosling has a child and a wedding band that his wife was a victim of this terrible accident. Sad as this may be, I just never seen connection to the story. I don’t know if this was an attempt to recreate a Martin Riggs-type character or just to give him a little bit more depth, but after we learn this it doesn’t seem to affect the story at all. Yes it is sad to know that he is a widower with a child, but other than that his character doesn’t change throughout the movie.

The Verdict: I absolutely adored this movie; plot holes included, and would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a good, fun movie to watch. This film is what we go to the movies for. It has action, comedy, and great performances by two wonderful actors. It could even be a good date movie.

See In Theaters.