The Nice Guys Review: Ryan Gosling Is A Comedic Force

Director: Shane Black

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger

Running Time: 1 hour 56 mins

Rating: 15

Release Date: 3/6/16

Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Detective Inspector Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and enforcer Jackson Healey (Russell Crowe) make for an unlikely partnership as they work together to search for missing girl Amelia (Margaret Qualley) and solve a suicide case of porn star Misty Mountains. What follows is an unravelling of the city’s crime and corruption which sees the duo as sitting targets.

Within minutes of the film starting we are thrown into its chaos; Bobby (Ty Simkins) looks at a nude centre fold of Misty Mountains while in the background her car, rather comically, breaks through a road barrier and tumbles down a hill before crashing into the house occupied by the young boy. This is just a drop in the ocean in comparison to the commotion that’s to come.

Directed by LETHAL WEAPON’S Shane Black, March and Healey are a classic chalk and cheese pairing, much like Riggs and Murtaugh. We’re introduced to Gosling’s defeated March as he sits in a filled bathtub wearing a suit, while Crowe’s Healey proves to be the brawn of the operation as he takes payment in exchange for giving someone a good beating. Both are battling with their own demons – March reveals in a narration that his wife has died, and Healey’s other half left him for his father which plays out in a flashback cutaway. Sharing a common ground, if not to different circumstances, you’d be a fool to think that they wouldn’t become friends by the time the credits roll.

As Healey thinks with his fists and March is “the world’s worst detective,” March’s teenage daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) becomes the brains and also serves as a reminder for her father to get his act together while mediating Healey’s aggressive tendencies. In one of the more sentimental moments, having killed a man on their tail which Healey denies when asked, Holly says “I knew you couldn’t do something like that.”

Overflowing with shootouts and wounded limbs, from March slicing his wrist when breaking a glass panel (my favourite scene) to the discovery of a dead body at a party, there’s an air of slapstick to the violence. Mainly propelled by Gosling who gives an extremely impressive performance – I think he’s found his niche with comedy.

Although the plot loses its way somewhat, THE NICE GUYS doesn’t hold back on the punchlines. I will mention the use of Earth, Wind & Fire’s Boogie Wonderland – a great song which had me tapping my feet along to it, but it definitely wouldn’t have been released at this point.

Verdict

THE NICE GUYS is released in cinemas 3rd June

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