Starring: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger, Margaret Qualley, Jack Kilmer
OUR RATING: ★★★★☆
Story:
Comedy thriller directed and co-written by Shane Black in which the story is set in Los Angeles in the 1970s and follows a criminal fixer, Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), who finds himself embroiled in a mystery surrounding a young woman’s disappearance. But it seems the only guy who can help him solve the case is a seemingly incompetent private detective, Holland March (Ryan Gosling), who he had previously roughed up as part of another job.
Best Quotes
Mrs. Miller: It’s my husband, he’s gone missing.
Holland March: Missing?
Mrs. Miller: I’m terribly worried, it’s just Fred’s never gone this long before.
[March looks over and notices the urn of ashes over the fireplace with Fred’s name on it]
Holland March: How long has he been missing?
Mrs. Miller: Since the funeral.
Holland March: Well I can start right away.
[as he’s brushing his teeth he looks up the word of the day on his calendar]
Jackson Healy: “Equanimity. The quality of being calm and even-tempered.”
Holland March: Who is it?
Jackson Healy: Messenger service.
[as March opens the door suddenly Healy hits him hard in the face]
Holland March: F***!
Jackson Healy: March, we’re going to play a game.
Holland March: I think you have the wrong house.
Jackson Healy: [ throws March across the room] It’s called “shut up unless you’re me”.
Holland March: [gets kicked in the stomach] I love that game.
Jackson Healy: [looks at March’s ID in his wallet] You’re a private investigator?
Holland March: There’s twenty bucks in there, alright? Just take it.
Jackson Healy: No, I’m not here for that. I’m a messenger. Give me your left arm.
Holland March: No!
Jackson Healy: Yeah, come on.
Holland March: [struggles] No!
Jackson Healy: When you’re talking to your doctor you tell him you have a spiral fracture.
Holland March: No!
Jackson Healy: Deep breath.
[Healy breaks March’s arm making him howl in pain]
Jackson Healy: I’m not in the yellow pages, but if you got trouble with someone you might ask around for me, Jackson Healy.
Judith Kuttner: [to Healy] I work for the Department of Justice, my daughter Amelia is in danger. Please find her, protect her.
Jackson Healy: March, Jack Healy. Don’t get upset. I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to ask you a question.
Holland March: [opens his cubicle door and points his gun at Healy] How stupid do you think I am? I got a license to carry, dumba**! And ever since your little visit this little baby is going to stay right here.
[he lets go of the cubicle door, but the door closes, as he tries to keep it open drops the cigarette from his mouth onto himself]
Holland March: F***! F***!
Holland March: Look away.
Jackson Healy: [turns and sees March through the bathroom mirror] You know there’s a mirror here, right?
Holland March: What do you want?
Holland March: This is a high profile case.
Jackson Healy: It made the newspapers.
Jackson Healy: You’re a private investigator? There’s a couple people that say you’re a good detective. I want you to help me with this case.
Holland March: My profession is very complicated, okay? It’s nuanced.
Holland March: Well, look who decided to show up for class?
Jackson Healy: There’s a couple of people I trust that say you’re good at this. I want you to find Amelia.
Holland March: I would have thought your job ended with breaking my f***ing arm.
Holly March: You’re the guy who beat up my dad.
Jackson Healy: Hey.
Holland March: Sucker punched your dad, big difference.
Holly March: You beat people up and charge money?
Jackson Healy: Yeah.
Holland March: Sad, isn’t it?
Holly March: How much would you charge to beat up my friend Janet?
Holland March: What?
Jackson Healy: How much you got?
Holly March: Thirty bucks.
Holland March: That’s good, this conversation is over.
Jackson Healy: No, problem.
Holland March: Have you seen this girl? She’s got dark hair, her name is Amelia.
Bartender: What’s in it for me?
Holland March: [points to Healy] He’ll stop doing it.
Bartender: Doing what?
[suddenly Healy grabs the bartender by his tie and smacks hi head on the bar counter]
Bartender: Ow! F***!
Holland March: That.
Holland March: Have you seen this girl?
Bartender: What’s in it for me?
Jackson Healy: Well you can do this the easy way.
[suddenly Healy grabs the bartender by his tie and smacks hi head on the bar counter]
Bartender: Ow!
Jackson Healy: We’re currently doing it the easy way.
Bartender: Whatever happened to offering me twenty bucks?
Holland March: It’s the recession.
Holland March: What the hell is going on?
Jackson Healy: Oh, yeah. There’s guy coming to kill us. That kind of crap.
Holly March: [at a late night party] Dad, there’s like whores here and stuff.
Holland March: Sweetheart, how many times have I told you? Don’t say “and stuff”. Just say, “Dad, there are whores here.”
Holland March: Where are you going?
Jackson Healy: I think this is going to work better if we split up.
Holland March: Wow, that’s really insensitive.
Holland March: Munich.
Jackson Healy: What?
Holland March: Guy without his balls. A Munich.
Jackson Healy: Munich, is a city in Germany, Munich. München.
Holland March: You sure?
Jackson Healy: My dad was stationed there.
Holland March: Right. Hitler only had one ball.
Judith Kuttner: First of all I want to say I thank you. We’ve been watching interviews and it sounds like you might have saved my daughter’s life.
Jackson Healy: That was mostly Holly, his daughter.
Holland March: It’s genetics.
Judith Kuttner: I need your help. I want to know if I can trust you.
Jackson Healy: I’m kind of getting the idea that, you know, you might not have much choice.
Judith Kuttner: Well my situation is very delicate.
Jackson Healy: That’s where I know you from, right, the TV. You’re prosecuting that car company thing.
Judith Kuttner: The lawsuit of the catalytic converter, yes, that’s half my day. The other half I spend on pornography.
Holland March: What kind? Like which films? What’s your favorite?
Jackson Healy: No, no. Anti, anti-porn.
Holland March: Right.
Jackson Healy: Like a crusader.
Holland March: Should I be writing this down?
Jackson Healy: Yeah, write it down.
Judith Kuttner: The Vegas Mob is trying to spread its porn operation to Hollywood Boulevard, and I’m doing everything I can to stop it.
Holland March: Thank you.
[to himself as he writes this down]
Holland March: “Porn is bad.”
Holland March: So you’re telling me you made a porno where the plot is the point?
Judith Kuttner: [to Healy] The mob is trying to spread its operation to Los Angeles. Somehow my daughter Amelia is involved. Please, find her.
Jackson Healy: One thing we know for sure, something funny is going on.
Jackson Healy: [as they see a guy get shot and hrown out the building] Oh, this just keeps getting better and better.
Holly March: You’re the world’s worst detectives.
Holland March: The world’s worst.
Jackson Healy: March! Gun! Gun!
[March throws his gun towards Healy but it smashes out through the window instead]
Jackson Healy: F***!
Holland March: S**t!
Holland March: [screams] I’m alive!
[just then someone starts shooting at him]
Holland March: Look at the bright side, nobody got hurt.
Jackson Healy: People got hurt.
Holland March: I’m saying I think they died quickly so I don’t think that they got hurt.
Holland March: [March is crying like a baby] Oh, my God!
Jackson Healy: Hey, can you behave like a professional.
Holland March: I’m sorry.
Jackson Healy: She’s in danger, man. We have to do something about it.
Holland March: She’s dead.
Jackson Healy: She’s not dead!
Holland March: She’s dead!
Jackson Healy: She’s not dead!
[just then Amelia lands on the hood of their car]
Trailer:
Quite loved this movie. Ryan is entirely awesome and handsome. Damn, Daniel :)))))) I also adore Angourie Rice now. Can’t wait to see her in a new one Jasper Jones. Watch the trailer, it’s cool!
Dear the Two of You Who’ll Read This,
Being in an empty movie theater with friends is a rare opportunity. When it happens, be advised and take full advantage. For one thing, you don’t have to lower your voice to tell dick jokes, and if the movie sucks, you can redeem a wasted nine-fifty via mockery and criticism. Fortunately, such etiquette wasn’t called for while watching The Nice Guys. In fact, for my money, it’s the best [and if I’m correct, most recent] deconstruction of the buddy-cop genre since The Other Guys. The films have little in common, however, as the latter was more or less a non-stop joke fest, while Nice Guys balances the humor with enough suspense and intrigue to tell a more involved story. I could go into the plot, but frankly, I don’t feel like it. You’ve seen this sort of thing before, one’s an [insert race or personality type] and the other’s an [insert opposite race or personality type].
They don’t get along, but on account of extraordinary circumstances, band together to solve a case where nothing is what it seems while bullets fly and buildings go boom. That’s not a great description, but you get the idea. If you really want to know, Russell Crowe [Hey, I rhymed!] plays a gruff, jaded, overweight washout reduced to roughing people up for money. After encountering and breaking the arm of Gosling’s cynical, alcoholic P.I., he decides to team up with his target and together, they stumble upon a convoluted conspiracy where nothing is what it seems while bullets fly and buildings don’t really go boom, though, there’s enough blood and car chases that you don’t notice. It’s more than that, of course, but the movie will do a better job of explaining itself than I ever could. I’ll say this, both leads are well-cast and dutifully play off each other, with Gosling providing much of the comedy as his character sinks further into child-like vulnerability.
Also worthy of a shout out is the supporting cast, including Angourie Rice as Gosling’s precocious daughter and Matt Bomer as an eccentric hit man. The film is set in the seventies, and the production design provides a neat time capsule of the decade, especially for millennials like myself unaware of a reality where billboards advertised Burt Reynolds movies. I’d say check it out. It’s not for everyone, but given this film isn’t part of an established franchise, consider it a breath of fresh air…You’re welcome!
Rating: 4/5