The Nice Guys | Teen Ink

The Nice Guys

April 24, 2018
By Jared McAdam SILVER, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
Jared McAdam SILVER, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
7 articles 0 photos 0 comments

The Nice Guys is written and directed by Shane black and stars Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. It’s a story of two private detectives who are looking for a girl named Amelia who in some weird way is involved with the death of a porn star who in some weird way is involved with the death of someone else who in some weird ways involved the death someone else and it's 1977, basically the movie is these two guys getting to know each other. Russell Crowe plays a tough guy he's the kind of guy you hire to maybe beat somebody up who's following you he's not actually a private detective but he kind of wishes he was he fancies himself. Ryan Gosling actually is a private detective. The funny thing is Russell Crowe's character is probably better at his job even though he's not officially licensed.

 

 


I was super excited for this movie because Shane Black has written a very small amount of films and although I didn't love Iron Man 3 I enjoyed it. I did however adore Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which is a very underrated movie with Robert Downey jr. and Val Kilmer. It’s a very similar film as The Nice Guys and you can tell that Shane black definitely understands where he's best. Writing buddy cop movies like Lethal Weapon because The Nice Guys just might be the best movie I've seen from 2016.

 

 

 

This is a fresh, offbeat, unconventional,original, witty comedy with two actors at the top of their game. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in this film work magic together these guys have amazing chemistry and not just because they're funny and they play off each other well but also because these characters feel at home with each other. Yes, that is the classic buddy-cop genre thing you pair Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan “Oh that's strange”. You pair Mel Gibson and Danny Glover “Huh those are two different opposing people”. The difference here with these characters is that they're not actually that opposing. They both have troubled pasts, they both have issues with alcohol, they're very similar in a lot of ways and they don't highly contrast one another. It’s the fact that they work together so well as a comedy team playing off of each other that's so fresh and original because usually these movies are just about the fact that two very different people suddenly after work together, but in this film it's sort of like they're just like “Hey look we understand the game we get how this town works let's just see if we can make some money” but they're “Like yeah okay whatever let's do it”.

 


I can't talk enough about Shane Black's writing in this movie. It is on point scene to scene consistently I was laughing out loud full-on belly laughter, screeching laughter. This movie is filled with so many lines that are seared into my memory things that just hit home so hard for me that just burned into my consciousness that I'm never going to forget. There isn't that dumb obvious scene where they pat each other on the back and say “You know what you're a pretty good man” “Thanks you too buddy, let's walk off into the sunset”.

 

 

 

The action is also great really great shootouts kind of like old 1980 style action filmmaking despite the fact that it takes place in the 70s which I must say is perfectly realistic. I feel like I just watched a film that came out in the 70s just with better film stock. It's that good, it's a perfect recapturing of a setting, the mystery is appealing, the dialogue is great , he characters are great, especially Ryan Gosling's little daughter who much to Goslings opposition is kind of like the sidekick of their various missions they go on and she's amazing I mean so good. His daughter plays that kind of role where she says adult things and you're like “Oh it's cute and you know it's funny” but she’s not cute, she just sells it and it feels so authentic.

 

 

 

This felt like the type of movie that wouldn't come out today, like it's just past its time. Hollywood doesn't make movies like this anymore, these weird private detective movies that are also very funny, those just don't exist anymore. “We're not going to make those we need more special effects, we need more explosions,we need CGI”, but this movie is that type of movie it felt like a present or a gift,like “Hey we understand you have to watch a lot of crap movies, here's something great that might remind you why you love movies”.

 

 

So much similar to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang there's also a slight fantastical vibe towards the final reel I couldn't get enough of it. Good characters, good dialogue, good story, great direction. The Nice Guys is probably the best film I saw in 2016. If you appreciate film as an artform and you want film to be preserved as an artform not just as a business that can make money please watch The Nice Guys it's one of the better original films I've seen in years.


The author's comments:

I hope people will see this film for what it really is. A modern noir cult classic


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