Yes, It's Good. Actually, It's Great!

Rating: 9/10 (17 May 2016)

"Sometimes, you just win"
Everyone ready? Cool, 'cause it's superlatives time! The Nice Guys is the best action/comedy I've seen in years. And probably also my favorite film of this year in general. *Insert Classic Footage Of An Old Hydrogen Bomb Test* But why? I'm trying to keep this flashy, so we'll stick to three elements, bearing in mind the rest goes from decent to great.
What's it about? Seventies LA! Private Investigators! Doing... Quips! Action! Drinking! Quipping while drunk! Shooting whilst quipping... In an intoxicated fashion! Also porn stars, stripper mermaids, eccentric gangsters and protesting hippies.
Let's start with the writing. And no, this is always my pet aspect of filmmaking, I'm not turning to it just now because Shane Black is involved. Look, say whatever you want about Iron Man 3, the man is still a rockstar. And if you disagree... Reserve judgment till you see this movie. There's not a line waisted, no tiny setup that goes without pay- off, no detail that's left unacknowledged. Does it have typical Shane Blackisms (quippy characters, subversion of action movie tropes)? Yes. Are those 'isms' appropriate? Never more so. Watching it, I could feel the release of those now so rare endorphins that tend to accompany well structured stories.
Next, let's turn to the main guys and gal. I mention her because Angourie Rice really acts the hell out of the role of 'too wise and quippy for her age teen'. To channel my inner 1977 LA exec: that kid is going places. But you're here to hear about Crowe & Gosling, aren't you? Well, I personally got them served just the way I like 'm. In Crowe's case, it's noble yet down on his luck Russell (also, not throwing heavy objects at my facial area). In Gosling's case, it's fast-talking (!), occasionally dumb- witted or genius, well-written Ryan. Also, chemistry, huzzah. Crowe seems to know more about it than Bryan Cranston.*.
And the final element is: laughter (note to self: great pitch for something at some point). Yes, I know, not really fair and probably a combination of the previous two. Maybe I should've said that this movie looks really great, even has some fun framing at times to improve the visual gags. But I'm going for the sappy line because it (laughter) is essential, at least in my opinion, in knowing why one should revisit this film. Yes, it's a great film all round, but I rarely rewatch films just because they're great. I need something else, and I think many others do to. Casablanca because I want to re-experience a time when movies were 'that', Goodfellas because I haven't seen a good gangster flick in a while and Mad Max because every action movie feels the same.
That's why I'm sure that in a few years time, I won't have forgotten The Nice Guys, and probably, neither will you.
*Get it? 'Cause of Drive? But also... Breaking Bad?