The Nice Guys (2016)

In 1970s Los Angeles, a mismatched pair of private eyes investigate a missing girl and the mysterious death of a porn star.

Director:

Shane Black

Writers:

Shane Black, Anthony Bagarozzi

Stars:

Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice

9 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Russell Crowe	...	Jackson Healy
Ryan Gosling	...	Holland March
Angourie Rice	...	Holly March
Matt Bomer	...	John Boy
Margaret Qualley	...	Amelia Kuttner
Yaya DaCosta	...	Tally
Keith David	...	Older Guy
Beau Knapp	...	Blueface
Lois Smith	...	Mrs. Glenn
Murielle Telio	...	Misty Mountains
Gil Gerard	...	Bergen Paulsen
Daisy Tahan	...	Jessica
Kim Basinger	...	Judith Kuttner
Jack Kilmer	...	Chet
Lance Valentine Butler	...	Kid on Bike

Storyline

Set against the backdrop of 1977 Los Angeles, The Nice Guys opens when single father and licensed PI Holland March (Gosling) is hired to investigate the apparent suicide of famous porn star Misty Mountains. As the trail leads him to track down a girl named Amelia (Qualley), he encounters less licensed and less hands-off private eye Jackson Healey (Russell Crowe) and his brass knuckles, both hired by the young hippie. However, the situation takes a turn for the worse when Amelia vanishes and it becomes apparent that March wasn't the only party interested. As both men are forced to team up, they'll have to take on a world filled with eccentric goons, strippers dressed as mermaids and even a possible government conspiracy.

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Plot Keywords:

neo noir | investigation | private investigator | los angeles california | conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

They're not that nice

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, language and brief drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the end of the film a marquee for the Comedy Store is shown in the background, featuring Tim Allen. "Allen started his career as a comedian in 1975. On a dare from one of his friends, he participated in a comedy night at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit. While in Detroit he began to get recognition appearing in local television commercials and appearing on cable comedy shows such as Gary Thison's Some Semblance of Sanity. He moved to Los Angeles and became a regular performer at The Comedy Store." [Wikipedia]

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Goofs

There was a car show for the new 1978 models. The corvette they were showing was gold it should have been the black and silver Silver Anniversary car.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Misty Mountains: How do you like my car, Big Boy?

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Alternate Versions

In the censored version, bikinis were put on for many of the nudity scenes. The opening did not include a center spread and the naked body of Misty Mountains.

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: Follow the Money (2017)

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Soundtracks

Rock and Roll All Nite
Written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley
Performed by KISS
Courtesy of Island Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

A raucous buddy comedy… and stuff.

I'm sure this film is going to divide audiences, in the same way that "Kingsman" did.

It's 1977 Los Angeles. Star Wars has premiered. Disco is in full swing. And porn star Misty Mountains has just died (spectacularly). It's pretty disturbing then that dodgy licensed private investigator Holland March (Ryan Gosling) has been hired two days later to find Misty by the slightly kooky Mrs Glenn (Lois Smith, the equally kooky doctor in "Minority Report") who saw her through the windows of Misty's home. Never one to turn down a pay check, Holland takes the case and the trail leads him to search for a missing girl called Amelia (Margaret Qualley). This leads him right into the substantial fists of the 'heavy for hire' Jackson Healey (Russell Crowe), who's been hired by Amelia NOT to be found. 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". (And that comparison is 100% valid since - and I honestly discovered this after I wrote that - director Shane Black ("Iron Man 3") got into cinema by writing the screenplay for the original "Lethal Weapon" back in 1987). But "The Nice Guys" has an edge that those films of the 80's couldn't have got away with. Subtle it ain't. There is a lot of violence, a bit of 70's porn and some fruity language that sensitive viewers may find offensive. (All in all, it's a bit of a surprise that it got away with a '15' certificate in the UK).

But it's also insanely funny at times. Some of the sight gags are laugh out loud material (and I don't tend to act on that often in a packed cinema). You might recall in "Diamond's Are Forever" that a Vegas hood tosses Plenty O' Toole out of Bond's hotel window. "Good Shot" quips Bond. "I didn't know there was a pool down there" responds the hoodlum. The basics of this scene are given a fresh and wonderfully gory rework that is truly memorable.

Gosling and Crowe have great chemistry together (although the degree of acting required by Crowe is debatable: he looks and acts like he seems to in most media interviews!) Some of their dialogue appears distinctly ad-libbed, which shows how comfortable they were with the roles. And Matt Bomer and Beau Knapp make memorably crazed villains. A role that unfortunately does irritate is Qualley's: the character of Amelia is supposed to be a bit crazed, but her speaking part is 120% off the scale.

The acting star of the show though is young Australian Angourie Rice as Holland's morally-centred and bright daughter Holly, who steals just about every scene she's in. A young lady to watch for the future.

1970's LA is nicely realised, with nice little subliminal drop-in shots: a Jaws 2 poster; Tower Records; the original Hollywood Tower Hotel. And the film naturally attracts some banging' 70's tunes to the soundtrack, with Al Green peerless over the closing titles.

But it's not perfect. The plot is quite impenetrable (I'm still unclear exactly what the relationship between Misty and Amelia was). And Black's screenplay (written with Anthony Bagarozzi) over-eggs the pudding of the final showdown scene. But while it won't be to everyone's tastes, I thought it was a blast from beginning to end: a guilty pleasure of bad taste that begs for a sequel. I would go to see the Gosling/Crowe show again. One of the most entertaining films of the year so far.

Please visit http://bob-the-movie-man.com to see the graphical version of this review and provide feedback on your views. (Thanks).

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

20 May 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Nice Guys

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,203,270, 22 May 2016

Gross USA:

$36,261,763

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$62,788,218

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures, Waypoint Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1