The Nice Guys

So, it seems we’ve hit that lull in the spring where nothing really interesting comes out. I mean, yeah, Civil War came out like two weeks ago but after that, there’s not much interesting going on until the Summer. I mean, hell, the only two things coming out this week are  Angry Birds and Neighbors 2, both of which shouldn’t really exist…I guess I’ll pick from the better of the two, N-wait…

There’s another movie coming out this week?

The Nice Guys?

Directed by Shane Black?

Ryan Gosling and Russel Crowe?

Hold up…

Yes, indeed, there is a bit of a jewel in the rough this time around. The Nice Guys, directed by Shane Black, is a semi-buddy cop/comedy/detective movie, a bit of a love letter to the old fashioned detective movies of the 1970s.

It follows the story of two average-joe guys from 1978, one of which is a private detective (Ryan Gosling) and a hit-man for hire (Russel Crowe). The guys get entangled in this massive search for a girl named Emilia. What basically begins as a search for some simple girl turns into this larger, deeper conspiracy about the government, all the while, the two men are finding a new friendship with each other as they go up against all the odds to find this girl and fix what they can.

I’m going to be fair, when I first saw the trailer for this movie, I knew immediately it was going to be good, but I wasn’t exactly sure how good it was going to be. I’m actually glad to say it was very good, no, amazing, no, substantial all the way around, a good way to spend 2 and a half hours of your time. For the first movie I’ve seen of Shane Black since the meh Iron Man 3, it definitely feels good to say that.

The first golden points of this movie really show at the beginning, and never stop coming, and they fall in the form of its fucking golden script. The jokes just hit after hit after hit, they leave the audience rolling so damn hard and leave everyone having a good time, and at the same time, deliver the depth that really keep this movie chained to the ground in such an amazing manner. And it’s delivered by such great performances by Gosling and Crowe, building up such an amazing on-screen chemistry together. Take all this and wrap it up with Black’s amazing direction and cinematopgraphy, and you’ve got a film that literally makes you feel like you’re actually in 1978. It’s that good.

Please, if you go see one movie soon, and you want a movie that will make you laugh and enjoy yourself all the way around, make it this one. The Nice Guys manages to mix comedy and action in a way that hasn’t been seen in a very, very long time, and I’m going to give it a 10/10 (on my new rating scale) just for that. Do yourself a favor, and go see The Nice Guys as soon as possible.