You know who else was just following orders?

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2016)

When you see this wonderful movie for the first time, don't worry if you find the relationship between the two leads and the daughter slightly familiar, Black has just borrowed some of the elements from the equally wonderful The Last Boy Scout.
And why shouldn't he, he wrote it? Holland March is a down-on-his-luck private eye in 1977 Los Angeles. Jackson Healy is a hired enforcer who hurts people for a living.
Fate turns them into unlikely partners after a young woman named Amelia mysteriously disappears.
Healy and March soon learn the hard way that some dangerous people are also looking for Amelia.
Their investigation takes them to dark places as anyone else who gets involved in the case seems to wind up dead.
If you are familiar with Black's body of work, then you will know that he is one of the most talented writers of the action genre, and he practically invented the Buddy movie thanks to the likes of Lethal Weapon, Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
But what keeps his writing so fresh and lively is, quite ironically, the fact that seems to follow the same pattern with his characters and the people they seem to run into during different settings of the film.
Crowe hasn't been this good in an absolute age, and it's wonderful to see him putting in a great performance, and seemingly be having a whale of a time with the script.
Gosling is surprisingly hilarious as the hapless PI, and his comic timing is spot on. There is one scene when he discovers something in the woods where he emulates Lou Costello perfectly. And the chemistry between the leads is almost as perfect as Riggs and Murtaugh.
This could well have been a franchise if the film was more successful.
Black has proved himself once again that he is an exciting writer, and to think he's written some of the most prolific action movies of the past three decades is highly impressive.
The film is a hoot from start to finish, and the set pieces, especially the one at the party, and the finale are pure works of genius.
easily one of the films of the year.