The Nice Guys (2016)

Genre

Action | Comedy | Crime

Director

Shane Black

Country

USA

Cast

Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, MArgaret Qualley, Yaya DaCosta, Keith David, Beau Knapp, Lois Smith, Murielle Telio, Kim Basinger, Daisy Tahan, Jack Kilmer, Ty Simpkins, Hannibal Buress

Storyline

In 1977 Los Angeles, mismatched pair of private eyes Jackson Healey (Russell  Crowe) and Holland March (Ryan Gosling) investigate the apparent suicide of a young porn star (Margaret Qualley).

Opinion

Because of the trailer and all the positive reviews I've read everywhere this summer, I watched this film expecting nothing short of a brilliant action comedy. But that isn't even close to what I actually think about the film.

More like a stupid, American comedy, "The Nice Guys" isn't boring but isn't either exciting and ultimately feels like a huge disappointment. At least to me.

There's just something about it that went wrong. I mean, the story is original, well developed, and has everything to make an interesting buddy movie. Unfortunately that suspense that should be in every detective film lacks completely. So the story eventually ends up not being that interesting or exciting. And it's also too long. The film could have been 15 minutes shorter and nothing would have changed. Rather it might have improved.

But while it fails on the detective/storytelling side, it isn't that bad as a stupid action/comedy flick. The action scenes are quite entertaining - no, the violence didn't bother me - and the simple yet catchy and energetic dialogue provides some good jokes.

And eventually there's the reason I wanted to see the film in the first place, the Crowe-Gosling duo. The Italian press have called them the new Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, and I have to agree on that. They really are a great match and have this incredible chemistry you'd watch even shitty films to see them having such a good time.