I wanted a little more. Don't get me wrong, The Nice Guys is a darn good movie and the things it does, it does fairly well. The action, the comedy, the intrigue, all of it was great. Just not quite exceptional. Memorable to a fault. What can I say, I was in a greedy mood today. The plot progression was also a bit slow at points, but those are my only quips.
Still in all, The Nice Guys plays out like a smooth ride to a familiar place with welcome pit-stops that are a little less recognizable. Ryan Gosling plays private investigator Holland March, a single father who spends more time drinking then he does putting actual clues together. He has been tasked by an endearing old lady with solving the mystery of what happened to her niece who just happens to be a pornstar by the name of Misty Mountains. As he is tracking down key witnesses he is confronted and roughed up by muscle-for-hire Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe). Throw in a couple of happenstance events in between and Healy and March find themselves partnering up to get to the bottom of things once and for all.
Crowe and Gosling work extremely well together and here's why: They are two entirely different personalities and their chemistry is far from instant. March's motto seems to be, "Some work but more play" while Healy wants to get the job done at all costs. Both stand to gain something different from success. March's reward is money, but, more importantly, the approval of his daughter while Healy gets pleasure just from being a knight in shining armor. While their partnership is awkward at first (think Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker via Rush Hour), you come to quickly appreciate and enjoy their many moments on screen together. It's like eating the Elviswich at Which Wich--The ingredients may seem like a strange combo, but somehow it works.
The style is fun with a 70's flare. Comparing this vibe to that of Everybody Wants Some!!, it amazes me how two films portrayed in the same decade can manage to capture two totally different feels. In The Nice Guys you get a taste of the chique 70's city life, an LA town bustling with hip life, drop-tops, and bell bottoms. You feel like you're at the heart of the party having as good a time as everyone else present.
I always throw in a few extra bonus points for things that elevate a film's potential from good to great and there were a couple of scenes in The Nice Guys that were completely memorable and original. One particular scene involving smog protestors had me cracking up. Now that I think about it, maybe the greedy part of me wanted more because I enjoyed all the great aspects of this film so much. All in all, I give it a solid 89.
No comments:
Post a Comment