Great movie! Shane Black does what he does the best!

Rating: 9/10 (4 November 2016)

A buddy-cop action comedy written and directed by Shane Black. It's what he does but he does it so well. Really well The Nice Guys is a great movie. It does have many of his trademarks but still I don't think he's just rehashing himself, not at all. All filmmakers have their own thing and of course some more than others but I won't complain. All of Black's movies do have many similarities, even Iron Man 3 had elements of the buddy movie that he most often or always uses. I have had high hopes for The Nice Guys ever since I first heard of it quite some time before it was released. I'm happy to say that it delivers. Shane Black is a great writer and The Nice Guys does have a better plot than one usually expects in the action genre. It takes a number of unexpected twists and honestly after my first viewing I was not totally sure how it all hung together. But I've seen it again more than once and it pretty much makes sense now. This movie gets better on a second viewing. One seldom expects or demands that an action movie should have an award winning script and I wouldn't claim that The Nice Guys does either but still it's great to see an action movie where you aren't completely sure were the plot is heading all the time. A buddy-cop, crime mystery, thriller, action, drama comedy would be to completely describe it. It has a little of all actually. And a surprising amount of depth actually. It is a detective thriller. The character drama and plot are I feel just as important as the action, maybe even more so. The characters and acting is just great. Gosling and Crow have great chemistry and fit their characters perfectly. But the real standout like many others have stated is Angourie Rice as Goslings daughter. She turns out to be pretty much one of the main characters. At first one might get the expression that she's obnoxious and irritating but this soon changes. There is of course some comedic relief here and there in the movie, most of the jokes come from the interactions between the three main characters and some slapstick also but it's never overdone. Not every single joke lands but by far most of them. While there is humor this is actually kind of a serious story and with sad characters. The main characters are not really heroes but rather deeply flawed and struggling. Tragic comedy in a way. It feels more plausible so you can more related and care for them. The action is well made and also feels like down to earth but in a good way. It feels tense and thrilling without being this massive spectacle that goes on for too long. Not as much action as some might expect but in my opinion it's just the right amount, I feel the detective and thriller moments are just as exciting. Probably the idea is that it should feel kind of like it not just takes place forty years ago but that it's made then as well. I have no experience of 1970s USA so I can't tell if it's a totally realistic presentation but I think so, it feels so. The Nice Guys is one of the best movies of 2016. Great characters, clever plot, action, humor. See it!