The Nice Guys

Movie Name: The Nice Guys
Year of Release: 2016

Director: Shane Black

Stars: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Kim Basinger, Yaya DaCosta, Keith David, Beau Knapp, Lois Smith, Murielle Telio

Genre: Action, Comedy

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
View Trailer Here

Synopsis:

Following the successful "Iron Man 3", director Shane Black is back with a new feature, one that again combines his trademark of action mixed with comedy and satire. The film follows two men in Los Angeles, in the late 70s. One, Jackson Healy,  is a muscle for hire, and the other, Holland March, is a smart yet clumsy detective. They are both thrown together, when they are hired to discover what happened to a young woman by the name of Amelia. They have to cope with an increasing series of odd events, but luckily with the assistance of March's daughter, they soon are on the right path to find their missing woman. However, not everything is what it seems in this missing persons case.
Shane Black is a talented writer/director who always manages to create films where the odd pairing of his central characters makes for memorable and entertaining situations (such was the premise of Richard Donner's "Lethal Weapon" and his best feature to date, the underrated "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"). "The Nice Guys" has all the trademarks that made his name well known as a screenwriter: a noir/thriller environment with inspiration from classics such as Roman Polanski's "Chinatown", with a quick and biting wit, very much screwball comedy inspired. This film in particular has the selling point of having two great actors as leads, both with lots of chemistry. What the film lacks, is the biting satire that was so well developed in his previous features, stronger and more defined female characters. It's still a film with a great cast, fantastic cinematography (from academy award winning Philipe Rousselot) and impeccable production design. An interesting film from a compelling director.