The Nice Guys

Russel Crowe and Ryan Gosling were born for roles like these. They make fun of themselves, but not in a very obvious way. That’s what the movie itself is like. It is funny, but at the same time isn’t primarily about the humor, it is rather a typical detective story from the 1970s. However, when there is a hilarious scene it has such an impact that you will want to rewatch it a couple of times after the first viewing. During the remainder of the time, you hope for something mindblowing to come any minute now and so you are observing, lurking, and you appreciate every moment that makes you laugh. Every joke is actually filmed so originally that the ending will make you sad. Even though I wasn’t that impressed with the first half of the crime story, the second half was a lot better. But the humor reigned for the whole 2 hours. I even have a feeling that you will not find a funnier movie from the year 2016. (21/12/2016)

Shane Black appeals to me just by the way he still bets on his overdubbed, voiceover-guided format even after years, but this time he just made it by a hair's breadth. The storyline scissors are very wide open and it takes almost twelve minutes to really cut with them. He unnecessarily complicates the different threads and it takes quite a few dozen minutes before it becomes clear to us who, with whom, and how. Fortunately, one weapon is hiding in this arsenal that kicks strongly as expected. It's Ryan Gosling, who again does everything to not be categorized in any way and thanks to the anti-intelligence displayed here, he reliably sent me to my knees several times. His March is so genuinely passionate and yet completely useless that it even overshadows the reliable bulldog next to him. 70% and a fourth star if I look the other way, and for how obvious it is that the central trio enjoyed this nonsense seriously and with taste. (10/06/2016)

Black is back on form. And although it’s more Kiss Kiss Bang Bang than Last Scout, in view of what we are offered in the way of movies today, this is a breath of fresh air for a smelly, sequel-reliant Hollywood. Nice Guys score highly mainly due to their complex screenplay which, even though it leads toward a certain goal, dropping clues to solve the case along the way, it works excellently in individual scenes, too. These scenes are usually either comedy (almost always with an ingenious punchline) or action-based. The plot revolving around the lost porn film/actress offers a good portion of Black’s inventiveness (beware - unlike other creators, he repeats himself a little in his films, but always very refreshingly) and again first-class work with child characters. He hit the jackpot in his choice of actors. Gosling is awesome. In the role of a kind-hearted, chubby guy, Crowe gives an excellent performance (he’s beginning to look a bit like Goodman), it’s just Kim who simply looks somehow old, even under tons of makeup and she her acting just isn’t good enough. Drugged up bees, naked mermaids and a villain with a blue face. a wonderful comedy which I’ll watch again soon. - What was that noise? - Pardon? Oh, I was just throwing a girl out of the window. (02/06/2016)

As in the case of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, I'm very happy with what I saw this time, but I'm going to need to see it again because the film turned into a huge mess at one point, which did still entertain me perfectly, but I was lost in it. Ryan Gosling pleasantly surprised me with his comedic talent, Shane Black with how he still manages to tear himself off the leash (like the final action scene, that's pure slapstick). And if I ever see Nixon, I’ll know what's going on. (21/07/2018)

It's a decent retro one-off, whose atmosphere and frilly 1980s LA visuals are far more engaging than the story around which the two well-acted main characters revolve. By the way, this is the kind of daughter I wanted in the new Jack Reacher and didn't get. Brilliant one-liners and great action. A bit better Starsky & Hutch, but very similar. (06/11/2016)