A confused comedy noir buddy cop film.

Rating: 3/10 (6 September 2016)

A movie-like thing masquerading as a period noir buddy cop comedy. I've read a number of reviews so far and one thing that almost everyone agrees on, even those who like the movie, is that the screenplay is a big hot mess. There is no momentum to the story, which is somehow both predictable and unfocused. As soon as Kim Bassinger's character shows up we know where this is all going but who cares anyway? The movie attempts to swerve towards the broadly comic and surreal but is not inspired enough to revel in its own fun and allow the audience to forgive the meandering and ultimately nonsensical plot for the window dressing that it is.
The characters lack sharp definition and development. Gosling and Crowe give whatever glimmer of hope there is to this movie but the material is not worthy. They may have been miscast but its almost impossible to tell due to the writing. Their characters are not very likable, consistent or distinguishable from each other(important with odd couple dynamics).
Supporting characters are not the fun colorful characters one would hope to have from such a movie. Gosling's daughter character is played by a talented young actress but unfortunately this is one of the worst elements of the movie. The child character who behaves like an adult is a cringe worthy staple of Hollywood and that is exactly what we get with in this movie. And why in a buddy cop movie are you focusing so much attention on buddy cop's 12 year old daughter? Why?? You could have a romantic interest or a fun villain but no, we get a third wheel Nancy Drew character.
From the beginning the daughter character is forced into the plot like this is a four quadrant family friendly comedy and I inwardly groaned as I realized that I was going to have to live with this decision by the screenwriters. This film has a rather bizarre obsession with children and even weaves in inappropriate porn jokes and adult situations with children in ways that I found off- putting, and I love South Park and edgy humor involving kids so that's saying something.
The movie is too scattershot and all over the place. Worst of all, its not very funny. There are maybe three moments in the movie that are chuckle worthy and they are featured in the trailer. The filmmaker has fun with the 1977 setting but this movie could have taken place in 2016 or 2026 or 2177, it doesn't matter.