The Nice Guys Movie Review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews

The Nice Guys

So awhile ago, Shane Blacks "The Nice Guys" came out, and with it being a fairly busy month at the time, I didn't get to see it. Luckily, a friend of mine recently bought a copy of it and let me borrow it, so now I've finally got the chance to watch it. And I have to say, Shane Blacks 70s action/comedy absolutely blew me away, it's far and beyond one of the most underrated movies of the year so-far, and in my opinion Shane Blacks best film so-far, and absolutely one of the best movies of the year so-far.

A lot of credit to what makes The Nice Guys work are the compelling and fantastic performances between the three leads, Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, and Angourie Rice. Both Gosling and Crowe are at the top of their game in this movie, delivering some of the best performances of their careers so-far. The chemistry between these two was surprisingly outstanding, and despite both of them having played fairly wooden characters in the past, they both brought a lot of energy to their roles and played off each other really well. And as for Angourie Rice, I have to say her performance impressed the hell out of me. She's definitely up there with Tye Sheridan in Mud as one of the best performances I've ever seen from a young actor. A lot of the time, a 13 year old palling around with the 2 adult leads can feel like dead weight, and even be annoying, but here it not only worked really well with the film but Angourie Rice played it in a very compelling and believable way. In a lot of ways, her character reminded me of Ellie from The Last of Us, even right down to her dynamic with Ryan Goslings character.

A lot of what makes the performances work as well as they do, however, is the amazing screenplay by Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi. For modern day noire films, making a mystery that's both compelling and interesting without it being predictable is very difficult, but this movie makes it look insanely easy. The humor in this movie is pitch-perfect in my opinion. It was never gut-bustingly hilarious, but if you ask me it didn't need to be nor should it have been. Most movies go for either situational, visual, or dialogue based humor, and when done well each can be outstanding. The Nice Guys goes for a rare blend of all three, a style that particularly works because of how well the script works the styles of humor together. It's never obnoxious and in-your-face "please laugh now" humor, but not a single joke in this movie falls flat or fails to get a laugh. And the comedy in this movie works in general simply because of how it's spaced out, like I said the humor is never in-your-face, and it never intrudes into the scene itself, it just all blends seamlessly. It's not entirely uncommon but it's always nice to see.

The script and acting aside, the amount effort that was put into making this movie is very noticeable. Shane Black is often someone who I've usually preferred as a writer than a director, but here he shows his absolute best directing chops. The films framing and composition is some of the best I've seen in a Shane Black movie, and it works immensely well with how well the film is lit and how much it makes use of the energetic world of 1970s Los Angeles. This film uses a lot of vibrant colors to its advantage, turning every shot from what could have been a pointless generic shot into a visually amazing one. This of course goes hand in hand with the editing and sound in the movie, which is also fantastic. The film manages to maintain a perfect and entertaining pace throughout, which even for movies I really love is something I rarely see. 

However, what sets apart The Nice Guys from the large majority of movies like this - movies set in either 70s - is how well it handles its setting. Unlike something like Inherent Vice or X-Men: Days of Future Past, this movie is never obnoxious about how unique it thinks it is. Most movies set during the 70s or 80s go through a checklist of cliches, throwing characters in easily identifiable iconic clothes, play really iconic popular music from that year, and have at least one scene where the characters directly reference either a famous movie from this time or a famous historical event. However, this movie doesn't really do that. The costume design in this movie is smart and subtle, the choice of music and the way it's used is mostly purely background noise, it's rarely an obvious "hey, remember this song?". And while it doesn't have the Stranger Things effect where Stranger Things actually feels like it was written in the 80s, this certainly comes close. Honestly, after seeing how obnoxious films like Days of Future Past and Apocalypse can be about the setting, this film is a breath of fresh air.

Final Rating

If by the end of 2016 I have any real regrets, it's that I was stupid enough to decide not to see this movie while it was still in theatres. Not only because it's an amazing movie and I kind of like to have that experience, but also because it didn't actually do all that well. When I say this movie deserves all the money it can get, believe me when I say I mean that 100%. I cannot stress this enough, I highly recommend seeing this, this is the kind of movie I'd recommend going out of your way to see. The Nice Guys is hands down one of the best movies I will see in 2016, it's right up there with Hush, The Lure, and The Neon Demon. And much like Hush, The Lure, and Neon Demon, I'm going for my highest rating with this movie.