Better Late than Never on the Awesome Movie "The Nice Guys"

Nothing like a new movie with an old look on a new yet old media device

It is harder for me to get out to the theaters now, unless it is a children's movie, so a lot of things I wanted to see in the theaters, I have to wait until they come out on DVD and rent them. One such movie that I was kind of cool on, but still wanted to see, was "The Nice Guys". I'm a big Ryan Gosling fan and I think Russell Crowe, given the right role, script and director, is a very good actor. I saw the previews and thought the movie looked like it might be decent, so I decided that I wanted to see it. I could not find time to see it in the theaters, but I put it in my Netflix queue and it showed up at my house a week or so ago. It sat on top of my DVD player, and yesterday, I decided that I was going to finally watch.  

I put my kids in their rooms and turned the movie on, and I have to tell you, I loved this movie. Like I said, I was cool on it at first, heard some good things about it, got a bit warmer on it, then when I watched it, it is such a great movie. Had I watched it a month ago, it would have had a great shot at making my "Best Of 2016" lists that I did last month. I like Shane Black. I think he is a decent director. I thought that "Iron Man 3" was kind of boring, but it had its moments. It was also much better than "Iron Man 2". On the other hand, I love the movie "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". That was a great, very underrated movie. Shane Black did a tremendous job with that movie, and kind of partially revived Val Kilmer's career for a minute. The thing that Shane Black may be best known for was the fact that he wrote the first "Lethal Weapon" movie. That is an all time great action/comedy movie. It still holds up and it is timeless, even though Mel Gibson is a terrible, terrible person.

In another great move, Shane Black brings something interesting and cool to "The Nice Guys". First of all, the movie took place in the late 70's, and the set pieces and shots that they got were exquisite. The movie looked like it was filmed in the 70's. It looked a lot like "Boogie Nights", and it definitely has to do with the fact that this movie has the pornography industry as a big player. "The Nice Guys" is not about the porn industry like "Boogie Nights", but the main plot has Crowe and Gosling looking for 2 female actresses that have dabbled in the industry.

The plot is beside the point, the 2 main characters are what make this movie. Russell Crowe plays Jackson Healy, a rough and tumble ex New Yorker that is muscle for hire. He goes out and beats up guys that may or may not be doing something wrong. For the most part, the people he beats up are bad dudes, but sometimes he gets it wrong. One time he does get it wrong was when he meets up with Ryan Gosling's character, Holland March. Healy goes to beat him up after he is hired by a lady that says he is "stalking" her, but March is actually a detective and he is doing his job. March, and Gosling's performance for that matter, is the best thing in the movie. He is a single father who lost his wife in a fire. He is a drunk and a low life. The detective life has really soured him on real life, and add on the death of his wife, he just does not like living, unless he is with his daughter. Gosling is absolutely hilarious in this movie. I know that I am a built in fan, but I am not over selling how god damn funny he is in this movie. He is the comedic element, and he nails it. He has so many great one liners and facial expressions that made me crack up while watching this movie. He is incredible in this movie.

When the 2 of them team up to work together, that is when this movie goes from good to great. It also takes a bit of a darker tone when they team up. This is when the whole porn industry comes into play. There is also a ton of gun fighting and fist fighting that happens. But, I love it all. I think it is perfectly spliced in with all the early comedy and the early tone of the movie. When it gets darker and more violent, there is still some great comedy. I also love the whole private investigator and detective teaming up type of "spy" or "thriller" movie. I'm always in for that type of movie.

The other actors in the movie are great too. Gosling's daughter, Holly(Angourie Rice), is really good. She is the perfect daughter of a drunk that has given up on life. She tells him like it is and makes sure he knows that he has a reason to live. She is also a total badass, and I think that is great. Kim Basinger, in a very small role, is really quite evil. I do not want to spoil anything, but she is a bad person, and she does a great job. Keith David, you may know him from season 6 of "Community" or as Mary's step dad in "There's Something About Mary" is another bad dude, and he is really good in the villain role. I could go on and on, the whole cast is great because this movie is great, but these are the five characters that really stuck out to me. Most importantly though, Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are the reasons to watch this movie. Shane Black does a great job with these 2 super stars, and they really shine.

I am so glad that I finally watched this movie, and I cannot recommend it enough. Go check out "The Nice Guys", I think you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man. Is one of the last people standing when it comes to getting Netflix in the mail. The early 2000's are alive and well in his house. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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