Derek Winnert

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This article was written on 18 May 2016, and is filled under Uncategorized.

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The Nice Guys **** (2016, Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger) – Movie Review

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Co-writer/director Shane Black’s invigoratingly dark and cynical action comedy thriller is just great. It manages to be both funny and exciting, and a makes for a brilliant, exhilarating evening in the cinema for grown-ups.

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Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are perfectly matched as bruiser contract enforcer Jackson Healy and hard-drinking Holland March, a mismatched pair of private eyes investigating the apparent suicide of a porn star in 1970s Los Angeles.

A relentless killer called John Boy (not the one from the Waltons!) – played by Matt Bomer – is wasting the LA landscape and, when they try to stop him, comes after them with a lethal weapon. The private eyes have the help of Holland’s extremely feisty 13-year-old daughter, Holly March (Angourie Rice).

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It’s the best thing Crowe and Gosling have done for ages and ages, showing their acting class and comedy timing. They obviously know a good thing when they see one, and that is Black and Anthony Bagarozzi‘s screenplay, which is witty and inventive, with genuinely clever and hilarious lines, just about playing fair by its vintage thriller plot so it keeps you involved in the characters and the laughs. Those who liked Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) or Lethal Weapon (1987) will love this.

There are even shades of L.A. Confidential (1997) in the movie, emphasised by the casting of Kim Basinger in a small but key star cameo role, her first reunion with Crowe since 1997.

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It is pioneer action genre screenwriter Shane Black’s third feature as director, after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and Iron Man 3 (2013). Black first made his mark with his screenplay for Lethal Weapon (1987), also produced by the legendary Joel Silver.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Movie Review

Check out more reviews on derekwinnert.com

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