The Nice Guys

Plot synopsis:
The setting is the city of Los Angeles, California in the year 1977.A young boy, Bobby (Ty Simpkins) sneaks into his father's room and takes out a porno magazine from under his bed. Bobby checks out the centerfold, adult film star Misty Mountains (Murielle Telio). In the distance, a car rolls down a hill. The car then crashes through Bobby's house and out into a ditch. He runs outside to check it out. A young woman is sprawled out nude a few feet from the car. It's Misty. She sees Bobby and asks "How do ya like my car, big boy?" before she dies. Bobby takes his shirt off and covers Misty.In the next scene, we meet enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe). He follows a man that has been seeing a 13-year-old girl and smoking pot with her. When the girl leaves the man's house, Healy knocks on the door and then slugs the man square in the face, then tells her to stay away from young girls.Private Investigator Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is sitting in his bathtub full of water wearing a nice suit. He has "You will never be happy" written on his hand. He lives with his daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) after his wife passed away, and he has become an alcoholic. As a PI, March doesn't get the best jobs. He meets with an old woman who claims her husband is missing. March notices an urn over the fireplace with her husband's name on it (and his ashes inside it).Healy meets a teenage girl named Amelia (Margaret Qualley). She gives him March's name and address on a pink note shaped like a cow. March is looking for Amelia because he was hired by a woman, Mrs. Glenn (Lois Smith), to find her niece, Misty. Mrs. Glenn claims to have seen Misty appearing at her window in a pinstripe jacket, despite March insisting that Misty is dead and that she really saw Amelia. March goes to a bar to ask around, but the bartender threatens him with a bat for not leaving. Later, March tries to break in through the backdoor, but he cuts his wrist badly and has to go to the hospital.Healy goes to March's house and punches him in the face, then kicks him in the stomach. He tells March to stay away from Amelia. March goes for the cookie jar to get his gun, but Healy knocks it out of his hand and then breaks March's arm. On his way out, Healy meets Holly, claiming to be a friend of her dad. She gives him a bottle of chocolate Yoohoo.Healy goes home and is attacked by two men, known only as "Older Guy" (Keith David) and "Blueface" (Beau Knapp). They are looking for Amelia as well. Blueface goes into the next room to look for some money that Healy was holding, only to get sprayed with blue dye (hence his name). Blueface shoots at Healy, but Healy escapes.March is at a bowling alley with Holly and her friends for her birthday. Healy approaches him in the bathroom, but March is prepared with a gun. The two sit down to talk about Amelia. March explains his case to Healy and demands a nice cut of the pay if he's gonna let Healy work with him on this. Healy agrees.Healy and March walk by the Department of Justice building and come across a group of protesters lying on the ground, claiming the air is polluted and killing them. The group was organized by Amelia, so March figures she would be there. Some of the protesters tell them that Amelia isn't there. March offers $20 to anyone who will help. A guy named Chet (Jack Kilmer) joins the two and takes them to the home of Amelia's boyfriend Dean. The house has been burnt down. A kid on a bike passes by and asks for $20 to give up information. He knows Amelia and says she was with a guy named "Sid Hatrack", and that they made an "experimental" movie together.Healy and March drive by a billboard for a "Pinocchio" porno produced film by Sid Shadduck, the man that the kid mentioned. After getting his information, the two attend a party at Shadduck's with many porn stars in attendance. Holly tags along by stowing away in the trunk of March's car, but he sends her away in a cab. Healy and March go around looking for information on Amelia. Healy goes into a room with costumes and a film reel titled, "How do ya like my car, big boy?", along with a pinstripe jacket and a pink cow note with what looks like flight information. He finds Holly in a room with a porn star watching a porno. Meanwhile, March is really drunk and ends up stumbling down a hill where he loses his gun. He sees Amelia, and she sees him, but he's too drunk to notice it's her. He finds his gun and then tries to light a cigarette, and his lighter illuminates a dead man's body. March calls Healy over to check it out. Healy goes through the man's pockets and learns that this is Sid Shadduck. March says they need to get rid of the body in case Amelia tried to place him since he said he lost his gun out loud. The two dump Shadduck's body over a fence, where it crashes onto the table of a wedding reception, horrifying everyone.Holly comes across another porn star that knows she's been asking about Amelia. She guides Holly to a limo where she gets trapped with Blueface. Simultaneously, Healy runs into Older Guy. The two fight as Older Guy tries to shoot Healy, but Healy gets the upper hand and lets him live after he beats him down. Blueface sees Amelia and opens the door to shoot at her, but Holly slams the door on his hand and yells at Amelia to run before making her own getaway. March shows up after they left, but the valet tells him that Holly was in the black car. March steals a car and chases after it.Holly and Amelia both end up cornered in the middle of the road by Blueface. A van drives by and slams into Blueface. Amelia is ready to run but Holly wants to help Blueface as he is suffering. Amelia flees and Holly goes to get help. Healy shows up and finds Blueface. He threatens Healy with the fact that someone called "John Boy" is going to find him and kill him. Healy then chokes Blueface to death before Holly returns. March drives by and runs to his daughter. Not long after, the paramedics show up, along with a detective named Tally (Yaya Dacosta). A limo pulls up to Healy and March. It is Judith Kuttner (Kim Basinger), head of the Department of Justice. She says she's Amelia's mother.Healy and March sit with Kuttner in her office. She explains that the Vegas mob is trying to push their porn industry to L.A., and Amelia is involved because of the "experimental" movie she did with Shadduck, which Kuttner thinks is the result of her lashing out. Dean was murdered in his home as it burnt down so that the movie would be destroyed. She hires Healy and March to find her.Back at March's house, March is lying on the diving board above his pool. Healy comes by, and March asks him why Tally earlier referred to him as "the guy from the diner". Healy recounts a story from a year earlier when a man in a diner was threatening people with a shotgun. Healy stepped in and intervened, causing him to get shot in the arm, but he still managed to beat the crap out of the assailant. It cost Healy a lot in hospital bills, but he claims it was the best day of his life. He then sees that March fell asleep. Healy then drives away and spots Holly reading a book in a dark field. He approaches her and learns that her mother died as a result of a gas leak explosion, which March didn't detect because he has no sense of smell. Holly asks Healy if he killed Blueface. He denies it.The next morning, Healy and March get ready to continue working, but March is already drinking. Holly calls him out on being a fuck-up and the worst detective ever. Healy mentions the information on the note he found at Shadduck's house, knowing it was written by Amelia. March deduces that the writing isn't for a flight, but for an apartment building. The two drive out to the location, but the building has been torn down for years. They then pass by the Airport Hotel, and the information was for a room number.Healy and March go into the hotel and ask the bartender if he saw Amelia enter the hotel. After Healy slams his face onto the counter, the bartender says he did see Amelia go upstairs in an elevator, and that "John Boy" may be up there as well. After the two debate on going up there, they take the elevator to the floor where Amelia may be. They find a dying man with his throat cut, and then a man being shot repeatedly until he falls out the window. Healy and March decide to go down. They go back to the car, and March thinks Amelia is dead. To their surprise, she lands feet-first on the car. She tries to shoot at them, but the recoil knocks her off her feet and she goes unconscious.The guys bring Amelia back to March's home, where Holly is watching TV with her friend Jessica (Daisy Tahan). After Amelia wakes up, she tells them the truth - her mother is behind the murders as a result of the film Amelia made to protest the air pollution from car companies, and Kuttner is doing whatever it takes to stop that film from being shown. The guys then get a call from Tally, who asks them to make a drop with a briefcase full of money. March mentions that Amelia is there, and Tally says she'll send the family doctor over.Healy and March get the money, but March falls asleep at the wheel and dreams that Healy shows off an ankle gun while a giant killer bee (Hannibal Buress - him again!) is in the back smoking a cigarette. Healy snaps March out of it, but they end up crashing against water barrels, causing the briefcase to fall out and spill the contents everywhere. It's not money, but a bunch of paper clippings.Back home, Holly answers the door to find a man (Matt Bomer) claiming to be the family doctor to see Amelia. However, Holly quickly figures that this is John Boy. She goes to the cookie jar and takes out her dad's gun. John Boy threatens to cut Holly with his knife. Jessica tries to intervene, but John Boy throws her through the window. The guys make it home as John Boy leaves. He takes a gun out of his trunk and shoots at them. March runs to grab Jessica and brings her in the house. He puts her in the closet to hide with Holly and Amelia. Holly gives March his gun back. Healy shoots at John Boy and runs inside for protection. John Boy flees as he hears police sirens approaching. Amelia escapes out the window and runs into the street. She flags down a car and asks for help. Unfortunately, this is John Boy's car. He shoots Amelia dead and leaves her in the street.Healy, March, and Holly all feel terrible after Amelia's murder. But a big break in the case happens when Mrs. Glenn reappears. She once again insists that she saw Misty wearing a pinstripe jacket by her window. When Healy mentions he saw that same jacket at Shadduck's house, March gets the idea to go to Mrs. Glenn's house. They see a projector pointed at the window, and Healy mentions seeing the reel for the film at Shadduck's, meaning Mrs. Glenn only saw Misty through the image projected on her window. Mrs. Glenn breaks down because she knows Misty really is dead. The guys realize that there was a second reel, and Amelia was planning on showing it to distributors on that very day at a party.The guys and Holly attend the party. John Boy and other goons are there to find the film and destroy it. They all learn that Chet is the projectionist. John Boy approaches him and asks where the film is. Healy later finds Chet beaten nearly half to death in a dumpster.The guys find the room with the projector, but they are cornered by Tally. Holly shows up pretending to be room service and throws coffee in Tally's face, but it's cold and does nothing to her. Tally ends up slipping and knocks herself unconscious, allowing the guys and Holly to get away.Outside, Holly overhears Older Guy talking to John Boy about their plan. Older Guy spots Holly and brings her back to March at gunpoint on the roof of the hotel. March tells Holly to duck and he whacks Older Guy over the head. March grabs Older Guy's gun and shoots him three times. He tries to grab Holly as he falls, but March pulls her away and falls off the roof. March lands in the pool while Older Guy splatters on the concrete.The film starts playing for the whole party to see. It features Misty's character speaking against the head of the car company, Bergen Paulsen (Gil Gerard). Paulsen sees it and orders his men to find the film. Holly finds the film first as Tally wakes up. Holly rolls it out the window, leading Healy, March, and the villains to go after it. After a long chase, March ends up with the film, while Healy fights John Boy. Holly walks in on Healy strangling John Boy. She vows to never speak to him again if he kills John Boy. Healy lets go and only knocks John Boy's lights out. The police show up moments later.Healy and March go to the Department of Justice building to confront Kuttner one last time. She shows no remorse for her daughter's death, and while she knows she's going to jail, she promises that someone worse than her will be in charge next.Later on, March goes to meet Holly and Healy at a restaurant. He sits with Healy at the bar where they discuss their case, and March thinks that they'll be driving electric cars within five years. He then tells Healy that they have another case, in which a woman thinks her husband is sleeping with Linda Carter (possibly Wonder Woman, possibly not). March has even come up with a name for their agency: "The Nice Guys".

Tags: comedy, neo noir, murder, violence, flashback, humor, revenge, sadist

Review:
But it's clear that Amelia is at the centre of a tornado of intrigue, since her mother Judith (Kim Basinger) is head of the Justice department and there are some heavies from New York and Detroit looking for Amelia too.As the film's tag-line admits "The Nice Guys" are "far from nice", and this is a sort of bromance buddy movie of the likes of "Lethal Weapon".
While there are a number of action sequences, The Nice Guys is focused more on delivering humour and jokes based around a couple of reasonably well-developed characters and a mystery that's a little absurd and off- the-wall.The comedy on offer here is quality stuff.
The comedy can be a little dark at times though, so if you like lighter laughs, The Nice Guys probably isn't your kind of movie.
The line in question refers to a thirteen year old girl who chats up a guy three times her age for some weed, and another scene has a kid on a bike talking about his big dick, but more prominently is Angourie Rice who plays Holly, the PI's daughter, and shows a massive amount of maturity in every scene, often showing up her father in smarts.
I'll admit that I am unfamiliar with most of Shane Black's original works, watching The Nice Guys made me want to go back and take a look at his earlier films.
The Nice Guys is written and directed by Shane Black and stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as two detectives who try to solve a case regarding a missing girl and the death of a porn actress in Los Angeles during the 70s.I'm a big Shane Black fan ever since my childhood, with Lethal Weapon being one of my all-time favorites.
Black is great at writing buddy comedies with crime and mystery touches and The Nice Guys is one of his best works to date.First of all, the two main actors, Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, have an amazing on-screen chemistry.
He has some of the funniest lines, he gets in the craziest situations and yet there's also a dark side to him, having some drinking problems and at the same time trying to raise his daughter (Angouire Rice), who is wise beyond her years.The story itself is not the most original and unique, it doesn't really break new ground and you can solve the mystery on your own while watching the movie.
We were not promised some original concept or never before seen plot, we were promised an action comedy that offers two great characters and a very clever script.What I truly love about this movie is how simple it actually is.
It really goes back to the 80-90s era, when we had some great action-comedies like the Lethal Weapon franchise or Beverly Hills Cop. It's a nice breath of fresh air with some clever dialogue, noir elements, good action and two perfect stars in the main roles.
'70s detective movie starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, directed by Kiss Kiss Bang Bang's Shane Black.
Shane Black doing what he excels at the most and doing it at the very best: "The Nice Guys" is funny, smart, action packed, violent, irreverent, thrilling and entertaining all at the same time without ever having tonal shift problems, it molds so many elements into one cohesive package that will give you a blast at the cinema and won't alienate you even with the sudden appearance of a giant talking bug in a car.What has to be addressed immediately is the fact that if there was ever a prize for best on-screen chemistry for 2016 the race is already over, Crowe and Gosling light up the frame with an overwhelming energy, this is something we haven't seen in quite some time.
Finally Angourie Rice is a revelation, she steels the movie from Crowe and Gosling so well it feels like this movie is about the three of them together.Now, all of these actors get the chance to do such amazingly inspired work thanks to Shane Black.
Matching Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in this awkward partnership actually works out very well, they are very true to their character, both a bit off in their own way, but together they really are the nice guys :)It is the funniest film I have seen in a long time and it really deserves a lot of credit for keeping a good story and not just relying on slap-stick humor, it has both subtle and loud comedy, it has action and something going on all the time, but above all it has timing and precision in the way it delivers the story and how the characters handle the different situations.Location, seating & time: Kinopalæet, Lyngby, Denmark - Bio 3, row 9 seat 3 & 5 - 27.06.2016 at 19.00.
IN BRIEF: A bubble-headed rehash of crime thrillers and buddy movies.GRADE: D+SYNOPSIS: Two inept detectives try to unravel a mystery during the groovy 70's.JIM'S REVIEW: Take the popular buddy movies of the 80's, add the retro good vibes of the 70's and quickly stir in the grisly blood and violence of the 90's and voila!...you have a half-baked movie entitled The Nice Guys, a film with no identity to call its own.
Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe play misfits Holland March and Jackson Healy, a couple of low-life PIs who join forces to solve a convoluted mystery involving a missing girl, a porn starlet, and how two distinguished actors can pick a real loser.
The first 25 minutes of the film, focused on introducing the 2 main characters, played by Ryan Gosling and a fairly wooden Russell Crowe, is hilarious.
I also think the flow of the movie is poor, like I mentioned the first 25 minutes is brilliantly paced, with violence and humour, and then it sort of slows and jokes become less regular and less funny and the story sort of gets a bit stagnant and then they try to pick it up at the end with a big shoot out but even that was a bit hit and miss.
Ryan Gosling's character also has a daughter who manages to worm her way into the film and I felt like her character really wasn't needed, she sort of gets annoying and though she has a funny moment here or there, I felt like her tagging along on all the missions kind of weighs the two main characters down.
Have you already retired or did you do something wrong and offend some Hollywood big wig who wanted you to make amends by staring in the worst movie of the year?Russell Crowe....Wow. When I think back to all those terrific movies you made....Kudos to the young girl who played Ryan Gosling's daughter in this.
Russell Crowe is still an actor I love (extra pounds and all) and he's the best thing about this movie because he basically plays the straight man and isn't trying to be a clown like Gossling is.
Stylistically it looks great, but the tone flounders and fails.In regards to "The Nice Guys", there is a smugness that shines through from the movie's worst character, the 13-year-old daughter of Ryan Gosling.
On paper, she was probably born in Shane Black's mind as "A 'Nancy Drew' character who sits through a porn film with adults, while being the voice of reason with adults, while holding dying bad guys hands and telling them everything is going to be okay, and then thinking nothing of talking about anal sex and seeing dead bodies...
A retro-70s odd-pair comedy couples a stone-faced heavy Jackson Healy (Crowe, sizably ballooned in his physique, whether intentionally or otherwise) and a goofy private eye Holland March (Gosling), who are set to look for a runaway girl Amelia Kutner (Qualley), but soon discover several deaths happened to those who are connected to a porno movie made by Amelia, in defiance of her mother Judith (Basinger), a honcho in the United States Department of Justice.Black is conversant with the genre ropes, apportions much physical endeavor to Healy, socking low-lives, close-range combating with pro assassins, and leaves the brain work to an ostensibly lackadaisical March, a single father perennially tailed with a premature teenage daughter Holly (Rice), who feistily teams with the duo in their children-improper outings (including a licentious party thrown by an AV producer), and coolly transforms into a dauntless heroine in the process of solving this desultory mystery.
The Nice GuysRyan Gosling is amazing in physical comedy and Russell Crowe is hysterical in verbal sparring and together they make a good team with great chemistry but unfortunately not a good film.
The jokes are funny, the dirty stuff are really dirty, the character moments are engaging, the old-fashioned and exotic 70s setting feels lived in and compelling, and Shane Black remains the best at directing intense action.
Shane Black's new film THE NICE GUYS is being billed as an "ACTION/COMEDY" and I think this is a mistake.
It is much more nuanced than the average "action/comedy" and, for the most part, succeeds in this nuance.Set in 1977, THE NICE GUYS pairs Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as they investigate a disappearance in Los Angeles.
While I thought Gosling was trying a bit too hard in the comedy areas (he managed the balance of comedy and drama better in THE BIG SHORT), the surprise to me was how easy the comedy parts seemed to come to Crowe while the dramatic parts showed off that he still has strong acting "chops".Ultimately, where this film falls short for me is in the direction by Shane Black (the underrated Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the overrated Iron Man 3).
After gifting us the original team up of Riggs and Murtaugh in 1987's Lethal Weapon (as screenwriter) and combining the services of Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in the fantastic 2005 cult hit Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (as writer and director), Iron Man 3 director Shane Black has now added the successful team up of one time pin up boy Ryan Gosling and the increasingly gruff Russell Crowe to his resume in the fun, colourful and Coen Brothers like The Nice Guys.A 70's set dark comedy with inklings of a pulp like detective tale that involves everything from pornographic actresses, blue faced goons, talking bees and Ryan Gosling on a toilet, The Nice Guys weaves a quite complicated tale of mysteries, murders and questionable investigating work into a film that at its core often fly's and sometimes fails off the back of Shane Black's witty scripting work, the fantastic use of the 70's landscape and most importantly, the winning combination of the inventive pairing of Crowe and Gosling.Clearly relishing the opportunity to play each other's foils, Gosling and Crowe are the best they've been in years here and while Gosling has shown his comedic chops in films like The Big Short and Crazy, Stupid, Love, Black un-tap's a fun side to Crowe we haven't really seen before even though some could claim ventures like The Good Year and Mystery, Alaska tried to show off a lighter side to the phone throwing adopted Australian.
The Nice Guys is Crowe's best work in sometime and it's likely his future roles will try to harness his lighter persona that works so well here, even though Gosling steals most of the films best singular moments.Speaking of stealing, young Australian actress Angourie Rice who was first seen in the worth checking out These Final Hours makes a huge impact to The Nice Guys fortunes with a fantastically judged turn as the wise beyond her years daughter of Gosling's often bumbling Holland March, Holly, and considering it's no mean feat to outplay two Hollywood heavyweights, Rice could well be "the next big thing".A sharp, fun and engaging mixture of comedy and mystery with a healthy dosage of violence, The Nice Guys isn't ground-breaking stuff and some of the potential jokes within the film sadly fall flat but as whole this energetic and colourful vehicle driven by Black's wit, Gosling and Crowe's fine pairing and Rice's star making turn, this is easily one of the year's easiest to like cinematic diversions.3 ½ swimming Nixon's out of 5.
The darkly comedic 2016 film "The Nice Guys" (R, 1:56) has a private eye looking for multiple missing persons, while uncovering connections to the porn industry AND government corruption in 1970s Los Angeles AND a character played by Kim Basinger is an important part of the plot.
Besides co-writing, Black (who also directed "Iron Man 3") directs this film with a good feel for pace, tension and comic timing, while his very talented cast (especially Gosling, Crowe and Rice) really brings it all together.
I saw this film because I also enjoy Russell Crowe, love buddy cop films, thought the plot/script looked hilarious, and I mean just watch the trailer😀The Nice Guys is about muscle-man PI Jackson Healy (Crowe) who ends up working with a drunk P.I. Holland March (Gosling) to learn the truth behind the death of the famous porn star, Misty Mountains.
The case is made more complicated by March's precocious daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) and the realization that the government is involved in a cover-up and it all comes down to finding a young girl, Amelia.It's Lethal Weapon meets The Man From UNCLE meets Miami VIce meets That 70's Show meets its own unique style.It is obvious that Crowe is the action and Gosling is the comedy, but that does not mean they switch roles every once in awhile.
Shane Black is known for his involvement in the development of late 80's buddy cop film Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, Iron Man 3 and this solo underrated crime comedy flick Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Black returns with a new feature film that packs not only the key elements of his works but a solid buddy cop movie that definitely feels like a new Lethal Weapon film for the new generation.The plot follows two men; tough enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) and private investigator Holland March (Ryan Gosling) who has been down on his luck since the death of his wife but tries to raise his young per-teen daughter who paths cross when they discover Holly (Angourie Rice).
The script is smart, funny and very much a noir mystery, I won't say too much on what is involved but knowing that Black's style of storytelling is a cult following, it surprises to be engaging throughout without a dull moment existing.Another strong key element that makes the movie work so well it's is great leads Crowe and Gosling, I don't think anyone would ever see these two in a film together but the chemistry they share is often smart, funny and forms the element purpose of a buddy cop film.
The supporting cast handle themselves well, there is no miscast whatsoever.Overall, The Nice Guys plays out like a nod to noir crime thrillers of the 70's, old school action flicks of the era while it carries a feeling and tone of a buddy cop action/comedy that helps to keep the audience watching the plot unfold and see its leads play out in hilarious ways.
I don't know how much broad appeal a period piece that's structured around an adult film industry crime has, but you'll have a hard time not getting behind the chemistry between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as the title characters.
The Nice Guys is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining films from beginning to end in 2016 with a refreshing take on the buddy-cop genre.Crowe plays Jackson Healy, a tough, uncompromising, and rugged private eye of sorts who is looking for the same young woman who Gosling is as well.
The Nice Guys did so many things right and so little wrong, it's a shame its release will not garner the recognition it should.Russell Crowe plays an underground enforcer who's helping out a young girl, Amelia, trying to shake the private investigator, Ryan Gosling, who keeps following her.
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.
This film can be easily recommended for those who want some good black humour, or a great buddy cop movie.
The trailers leading up to this movie made it seem laugh out loud, goofy, fun and interesting, and while the movie itself is all that, I felt kind of disappointed that there wasn't enough of the humor featured in the trailers.With that said this film is still great, the performances are all outstanding, the characters are likable, the 70s vibe and cinematography look cool and the funny moments are really funny, it's just that I wish the plot/mystery was more compelling.I recommend checking Kiss kiss bang bang if you haven't, its from Shane Black as well and its pretty much the same type of film, just that better story wise IMOGood, not awesome, I'll be giving it another go-around but for now7.9 out of 10.
Shane Black, the father of Buddy cop movies, returns to write and direct this 1970's action/comedy about private eyes investigating a missing girl who is a person of interest connected to an apparent suicide of a female porn star.It has everything you would come to expect from the writer of Lethal Weapon, The last boy scout and kiss kiss bang bang: Chemistry between the two leads, dialogue of them bickering, a small case that leads to something much bigger and a insane amount of action make our heroes seem invincible (a trope that is actually acknowledged by one of the leads.) Ryan Gosling, playing against his usual suave bad-ass type, is hilarious as a bumbling, drunk goofball and Russell Crowe does what he does best, punch the crap out of bad guys.I recommend not watching the trailer as it gives away some of the film's biggest laughs..