The Nice Guys - Review
This review of The Nice Guys is spoiler-free!
Back in the day, there was a time where comedy was at it's considered peak by many people. What often conquered this period of comedic craziness? Well, that of the buddy cop movie. In recent history, we've seen some films succeed or fail in attempting to revitalize this genre. Take for example the Ride Along films starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. Relying solely on the strength of the chemistry between its two leads, these movies failed to find a widescale audience outside of the diehard fans of either actor. Another example points to 21 and 22 Jumpstreet. On the other side of the spectrum, these films succeeded because they didn't purely focus on the character relationship but also had a fun and joyful story to tell. With The Nice Guys, we have something that most definitely fits into the vein of Jump Street, so let's dive right in!
Our story begins with Holland March a private eye living in Los Angeles during the 70s. He's had a bad run of luck as of late and can't seem to catch a break. On the other side of things, we have Jackson Healy, an enforcer whose job is to make people pay. When a young woman named Amelia suddenly disappears, they're forced to work together to find out what happened. What they discover though ends up surprising them both and shows them that no matter who they talk to, their next lead always ends up on the wrong end of a gun. For me, I loved the story of The Nice Guys. Like I mentioned in the introduction, many stories of this kind tend to focus on making a bare-bones spine of a story for its leads, but The Nice Guys has a true narrative that gets you thinking. While the majority of the time the movie is comedic, there are some true moments of seriousness here that really strike a surprising tone for the overall film.
Our two leads and the only two characters that really need to be talked about are Gosling and Crowe. Ryan Gosling is once again at the top of his game as Holland March. He's struggling to get by and has a daughter that he dearly wants to provide for. While the majority of his work is comedic, like the story, it's the serious moments between the leads and his daughter that truly make his portrayal so great. The same goes for Crowe and Healy. He's a different style of character and tends to take everything a bit more serious, and the dichotomy that the two have is great. Seeing someone who doesn't seem to care as much about what's going on work with someone who is absolutely dead set on solving the case shows just how well these two know their roles and manage to work with one another.
Since it's been quite a while since I checked out this film, it's hard for me to really find something specific to discuss, but I believe I have something that is worth using. We know many comedy movies to be focused on a specific age group that often times ends up not going to films that often. The teenage comedy has become widespread and results in movies that feel like they are pulling punches on the regular. What Shane Black does with The Nice Guys though is that he creates a comedy and story that are more focused towards capturing the attention of an older age group. This isn't to say the story isn't accessible for all ages (because it is), but there are some more serious tones and moments here that really feel like they hit better with an older crowd. This is what I've been hinting at through this entire article, while this movie could be easily passed off as just another buddy-cop movie by the casual moviegoer; it actually ends up being so much more than that.
Overall, I had a great time while watching The Nice Guys. The chemistry between Gosling and Crowe is impeccable and I'll surely be keeping an eye out for more work that comes from the two of them together. Reflecting on the time since The Nice Guys, I can't help but notice a trend that seems to have been at least initiated by this movie. Many recent comedies have not been so cut and dry and focused on a specific demographic, but instead, allow their stories and themes to be what draws them in. That's not to say some of the movies by Kevin Hart and other mainstream comedy actors didn't do well in theaters (because they did), but it just means we're seeing more variety in a specific genre. And who doesn't want more movies like The Nice Guys?
