The Nice Guys May 2o, 2o16

Abbott: Strange as it may seem, they give ball players nowadays very peculiar names.

Costello: Funny names?
Abbott: Nicknames, nicknames. Now, on the St. Louis team we have Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third--
Costello: That's what I want to find out. I want you to tell me the names of the fellows on the St.

Louis team.

Abbott: I'm telling you. Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third--
Costello: You know the fellows' names?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: Well, then who's playing first?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: I mean the fellow's name on first base.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The fellow playin' first base.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy on first base.
Abbott: Who is on first.
Costello: Well, what are you askin' me for?

Who in his proper mind would ever think to blend elements of slapstick comedy, vaudeville and film noir all together into one movie AND then set that movie in the cocaine candy world of 70’s Los Angeles, AND on top of that, I mean, what director/writer with just a cat lick of sense would even imagine casting Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as a classic comedy team?! Shane Black, you’re clinically insane.  A genius for sure, but you are totally mental.

The Nice Guys is a brilliant Comedy/Thriller/Action/ Film Noir Detective movie that doesn’t misstep in either script or acting. Seriously, I haven’t seen a 21^st century movie as of yet that can take iconic bits and pieces from popular movies from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, sew them all together and create something that’s fresh and overall “entertaining.” Yes, I know, you’re checking the basement for seed pods because I never use the word entertaining . . . ever. But this movie is a rollercoaster ride of laughs, intrigue, chills and thrills! Hell, it’s just damn entertaining! Yes, it’s a story we’ve seen before, read before in many Raymond Chandler classic gumshoe novels or any  Mickey Spillane potboiler, but the creative filmmaker can figure out a way to take an old plot and twist it just enough to make something new, fresh and timely. He knows how to suck you into a scene by making it predictable in the beginning and then slapping a new spin on it. For example, his two main characters Holland and Jackson are pinned down in a house by a machine gun totting bad guy named John Boy (and if you don’t get the reference, stop reading this review. You are too young. This review is not for you). Jackson has lost his gun and asks Holland to toss him his and Holland does but with such force that the gun sails passed Jackson’s head and out the window. In the trailers for The Nice Guys they always show this bit from the movie and I can’t help but laugh at it no matter how many times I’ve seen it.

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are casted perfectly as a couple of wannabe gumshoes who are less Sam Spade and Mike Hammer as they are Abbott and Costello. I kid you not, these two playoff each other as well as any of the great comic couples in film history. Gosling in particular shows a mastery of the physical comedy that rivals the greats of silent film. Russell Crowes gives us the threatening thug character he created in L.A. Confidential but about sixty pounds heavier and a hell of lot more world weary. And all though the whole film belongs to Gosling and Crowe, Angourie Rice as Holly March, Holland March’s thirteen year old daughter, takes command of every scene she’s in. As a sort of cute Moe Howard type, she alone is able to control our beloved duo of bungling detectives to such a degree that they finally bring down the bad guys and save the day . . . almost.

There’s a lot of movies out there this summer that are packed with thrills and humor and action. But none of them are quite as clever and freaking funny as The Nice Guys. Hopefully, The Nice Guys will find a bigger audience than it appears to have right now and then maybe there’ll be a The Nice Guys 2. I’d definitely go see it.