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    The Nice Guys

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    Don’t look at any trailers for “The Nice Guys” to determine if you’re going to be interested, they give away some (not all) of the best parts of the film. Instead, take my word for it: this is a great comedy. It’s tightly written with a nice variety of gags, the leads have excellent chemistry, the plot is interesting and for a buddy crime comedy, it contains a lot of surprises.

    In 1977, Los Angeles, people affiliated with the adult movie industry are dying left and right. Who’s responsible? We don’t know, but they’re all somehow connected to a missing girl named Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley) Where is she? That’s what private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is trying to find out. When the plot thickens, he teams up with enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) to figure out exactly what’s going on.

    In a film like this, the most important aspect is the casting. If the two leads play well off each other, the whole thing falls apart. It’s also essential that we have two guys who have different strengths. You don’t want a comedy with two Chris Tuckers; that would make your brain explode. This is where “The Nice Guys” excels. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are great together. They’re semi competent. I mean they’re not idiots, but they don’t get everything right. In fact, sometimes they screw things up so badly they’d have no chance of solving the case if it wasn’t for the third leg that holds up this story, which is young Angourie Rice as Holly March, Holland’s daughter. It’s like a Dungeons and Dragons party. Every character has a unique set of skills and is best suited for certain situations and the same applies to the actors. Russel Crowe is great at playing the straight guy that uses his fists to solve all of his problems, and surprisingly, the little girl brings in some moments of heart and cuts through all the nonsense like a hot knife through butter and Ryan Gosling is excellent at physical comedy. There’s a sequence set in a bathroom stall where he has to deliver lines, play a real character and juggle a bunch of objects on his lap… all while sitting on the toilet. You don’t think about how good an actor you need to be to pull this off at the time because you’re so busy laughing, but it’s an accomplishment in itself.

    There are many developments you won’t see coming here. Most movies would never go in the direction that writers Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi would. They deserve a round of applause for this picture, as many jokes are not simple gags, they’re elaborate pieces that are funny at first and then go away just long enough that you’ve mostly forgotten about what made them funny. Then they come back without a word of warning and you’re in stitches. The plot’s very enjoyable to follow too. It’s a film noir, but an absurd one. There’s a high body count and several deaths that would be tragic if they weren’t so outrageous. There are a half dozen moments I keep playing back over in over in my head, and they don’t get stale. I’m still laughing at some of the stupid situations they find themselves in.

    I’d like to see a sequel to “The Nice Guys”. That’s as big a compliment as a comedy can get from me, since I find most comedic sequels are a waste of time. I think there are many other stories to be told with these actors so if you guys at Hollywood are listening, go for it! Maybe they can’t be in this world anymore due to the events of the film, but a spiritual spinoff would be awesome. I’ve been very disappointed with pretty much every comedy that’s been released in 2016 but finally, we’ve got a winner with “The Nice Guys”. (Theatrical version on the big screen, June 4, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  7.6.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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