A fun and colourful buddy cop film

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2016)

The Nice Guys is a film directed by Shane Black, director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3. The movie stars Ryan Gosling as Holland March, a private investigator, Russel Crowe as Jackson Healy, a man who punches child molesters in the face for money, and March's daughter, played by Angourie Rice. Holland and Jackson meet through the machinations of a girl on the run, but soon team up to solve a case featuring a dead porn star, some nasty thugs, and a greater conspiracy.
Shane Black was already on my radar because of the fabulous Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but we have seen little of him in recent times. The Nice Guys is a return to form. It is a dark comedy, with two disreputable characters who drink, smoke, run from danger, overcharge people, and so on. Even so, the two are lovable, and form a great duo. Gosling and Crowe have great on set chemistry, and the intelligent Holly (March's daughter) rounds the pair out with her smarts. Truly, this is a buddy cop film for the ages.
Gosling and Crowe play two particularly interesting characters. One (March) is an alcoholic who breezes through life, is very sarcastic, and is a bit of a lousy detective and father. Healy (Crowe) is a stereotypical hard-boiled sleuth, who is tough talking, professional, and gritty, but also ruthless. Together, these two make a really great pair. The on set chemistry in this buddy cop action film is great. The relationship between March and his daughter (Rice) is also excellent, with really wonderful banter between the two.
Black's film is full of fantastic dark comedy. The two amateur detectives make mistakes, create a mess, get lucky, screw up and muddle through, all while charging double. Black has created his second dark humour masterpiece (after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and I look forward to more from him in the future.
As you can guess, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It was an excellent and comedic buddy cop adventure, full of great dialogue, excellent on set chemistry from the three leads and all the supporting cast. It was well shot, with the 1970's Los Angeles, California setting looking very colourful and fun. The action set pieces were loud and competent (although not spectacular), the humour was on point, dark and witty. The mystery felt right at home. I could go on, but suffice to say, this was a great addition to the genre, and an excellent buddy cop film. This film can be easily recommended for those who want some good black humour, or a great buddy cop movie. 8/10