A recommended watch, despite its flaws

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2016)

This movie is great fun, and it's easy to narrow down why: The performances from Gosling and Crow, and the characters they portray. Not only are there several instances of hilarious dialogue and banter between the two, but even some first class physical comedy, way ahead of most other action/comedy movies made these days. Especially Gosling has some hilarious moments.
It's hard not to compare this movie with Shane Black's previous film "Kiss kiss bang bang", which also includes a hilarious duo that stumble through a mystery that's way bigger than the both of them. There are some differences, though. In KKBB, the balance of competence is very uneven, where Kilmer's character is the competent one, and Downey plays the moral compass. In the movie, they are more even, with Gosling and Crow both playing deeply flawed characters, with each their strengths. The balance works, and much like KKBB, they are hilarious together. In KKBB the female sidekick is also a love interest, while in this movie it is the daughter of Gosling's character. The setting is a bit different, but it is still set in the entertainment industry, and with some similar locations.
The movie suffers a bit from too much build up, with too little pay of. There are several elements introduced that seem like they are supposed to pay of in a funny/interesting way later on, but that end up only being used in one or two gags. This movie would have lent itself perfect for running gags, and there's one that has great potential, but is dropped quite quickly (a character that accidentally kills the wrong person a couple of times).
There seems to always be some sense of self-awareness in Shane Black's movies, where clichés are either broken, or commented upon. Ryan Gosling's character has a moment in the movie here that very much keeps up with this, where he acknowledges the streak of luck he seems to have. I love how Black plays around the tropes and clichés of the genre, but wish that the story/plot would be as solid like KKBB.
So, while this does not hold up to KKBB in many regards, it's still way better than most others out there, and I highly recommend watching it.