The Nice Guys

Filmmaker Shane Black started his career by writing one of the best action buddy comedies of the 80s, the original Lethal Weapon.  So, it's only fitting that he comes full circle with The Nice Guys, creating one of the best action buddy comedies in recent years.  The movie works well both as a mystery thriller, and a raucous comedy.  It also finds an unbeatable star duo in Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, who both look like they had the time of their lives making this one. 

If you stop and think about it, the movie shouldn't work as well as it does.  It's plot is an odd mix of dark, violent 1970s noir elements set in the seedy and corrupt porno industry, and broad physical humor and comedic banter.  It's an idea that easily could have gone wrong in so many ways, and could have easily led to severe tonal shifts as the script tried to balance its two extreme elements.  But co-writer and director Black shows a lot of confidence here.  Not only is the script solid, but he knows how to blend the traits of the movie so that one does not overpower the other.  It can often be very dark and violent, yet very silly at the same time.  Very few filmmakers can pull this off.  In fact, the only other person I can think of is Quentin Tarantino.  The movie has an intriguing mystery to guide its plot, and some high-octane action, but it never once takes itself all that seriously, thanks to the odd couple chemistry of Crowe and Gosling.

Russell Crowe is Jackson Healy, a man who describes himself as a "messenger".  Basically, people pay him to rough up other people.  He does this by any means necessary, and makes sure his victims don't forget his "message" by usually leaving behind a broken arm or two.  One of his clients is a young woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley), who is being followed by a shady and slightly inept private eye named named Holland March (Ryan Gosling).  She hires Jackson to go to Holland's house, and convince him to stop following her.  But then (and I'm being vague here for the sake of the plot), it turns out that Amelia is involved in something much bigger - something involving an adult movie that has led to a lot of the people who acted in and/or made the film being dead.  With the mystery deepening, Jackson and Holland are forced to start a reluctant partnership to get to the bottom of what's going on.  The plot involves a lot of hired thugs, government officials, and a dead porn star who crashed her car right through the middle of someone's house right before she died.

As with any buddy action film, The Nice Guys succeeds or fails on the chemistry of its two lead stars, and in this case, Crowe and Gosling strike the perfect balance between being a comic odd couple, and pulling off action and stunts.  Crowe's Jackson is the straight man of the duo, while Gosling plays Holland as more of an oddball.  He frequently breaks down and goes into sobbing hysterics, is drunk most of the time (often so much so that his 13-year-old daughter has to drive him where he needs to go), and he has a tendency to get nauseous at the sight of blood.  As strong as these actors are together, the real breakout star of the film is a young actress named Angourie Rice, who plays Gosling's daughter, Holly.  Not only does she hold her own against these two veterans, but she also is a strong candidate for one of the better performances of the year.

The thing is, young Ms. Rice plays the kind of character I usually despise - the child who keeps on following the main characters around, and getting involved with the plot.  It starts out as a running gag, where Jackson and Holland keep on trying to ditch her, but she keeps on finding ways to follow them, as she wants to help.  Rice displays a certain unforced charm almost from the moment she walks on the camera.  And as the movie goes on, and she becomes more involved in the plot, she manages to get even better.  The movie handles her smartly.  She's never bratty, nor does she think she is smarter than the adults in the room.  She talks like a real kid would in the situations the movie puts her in, and she never seems like a forced or unnecessary plot device.  This is another element of the film that shouldn't work as well as it does, but Black again finds the right approach.  Even when the movie inevitably places her in danger, she remains smart and likable, and never becomes a victim.

The Nice Guys is that rare summer movie for adults that manages to be fun and doesn't dumb itself down.  It knows just how far to push the violence and the gags, so that one element doesn't overpower the other, or become too extreme that we lose interest.  Movies like this are a constant high wire act.  One little slip and the whole thing falls apart.  Fortunately, here, this is a confident and highly enjoyable entertainment.

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