The Nice Guys

This review may contain spoilers!

This is a pretty good 70s crime film even if it does have some major pacing issues I would give The Nice Guys a 6.5/10.

This a really funny satire about pornography and the role of nudity if film, it's about morality and the difference between action and senseless violence but most of all it's just a crazy crime mystery that manages to be a lot of fun. The score for this film is perfect aimed for a late 70s vibe, I enjoyed the soundtrack as well because there were a lot of classics in there too. The fight choreography for this film was pretty good, there was nothing too showy but the film didn't demand high stakes fights. The cinematography was pretty good, I felt there were a few epic shots particularly in the action scenes.

Ryan Gosling, who played Holland March, was a great pathetic protagonist; I found Holland to be a really funny role and his ever-changing moral compass was amusing to watch. Angourie Rice, who played Holly March, played a very innocent role quite well; Rice acted as the conscience of the film and we see that through how she interacted with Crowe, Gosling and Qualley. Matt Bomer, who played John Boy, was one of the few truly great antagonists of this film; everything about him screamed dangerous assassin and did incredibly with the amount of screen time he had. Lance Valentine Butler, who played Kid On Bike, was a really funny minor role; I liked his satirical performance of a witness and the jokes around the size of his dick.

However the best performance came from Russell Crowe, who played Jackson Healy. The Nice guys is a funny, raunchy and violent film that owes a lot to Crowe's performance; make no mistake this is his film. The character of Healy drives the violence of the film (it's practically his occupation) but deep down all he wants is to matter, to be of use to someone. There's a gentler quality to Crowe's role which we see more and more of as the film progresses. While Crowe does a great job as this violent enforcer, he does even better as the compassionate investigator we have by the end of the film.

One of the big problems this film has was pacing, there would be long points where the film would get away from itself and become more of a comedy or activist feature; ultimately it's easy to get bored until the film found it's way again. I also thought the corruption at the heart of the government wasn't a very well done storyline, not only was it predictable but the details of the crime wasn't very well presented. I know there was good cinematography in this film, I know because I'd watch a cool shot drag on for too long and be completely let down by the terrible editing. I also felt the special effects were shoehorned in for no reason, the CGI bug was a segment of the film that was a bit too weird.

Margaret Qualley, who played Amelia Kuttner, just didn't live up to the importance placed on her character in this film; Qualley didn't deliver her dialogue very well and gave a performance that was a bit over the top. Yaya DaCosta, who played Tally, was one of the worst performers in the film; her reveal as an antagonist wasn't surprising at all because she made it so obvious. Keith David, who played Older Guy, was given far too much screen time for a token thug; you lose interest in David pretty quickly. Beau Knapp, who played Blueface, was made a bit too comedic in this film; his performance became a bit absurd and you never really found him menacing as an antagonist. Lois Smith, who played Mrs. Glenn, gave what I felt was the most over the top performance out of all the cast; Smith really had very little relevance to the film and she pushed things a bit too hard in the scenes she was in. Daisy Tahan, who played Jessica, isn't a very good child actress; Tahan's line delivery was awful. Kim Basinger, who played Judith Kuttner, didn't make for a very good overarching antagonist; her performance was so dry and void of emotion. Jack Kilmer, who played Chet, portrayed an extremely two-dimensional character; Kilmer also wasn't a very strong performer and lacked screen presence. Hannibal Buress, who voiced Bumble, was responsible for a scene that was a bit too out there; the appearance of this giant talking bee really pulled you out of the film.