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The Nice Guys, or as I like to call it, THANK YOU SHANE BLACK.

Right off the bat I will say this: The Nice Guys thus far is one of my favourite films of the year. I was intrigued by the pairing of Russell Crowe/Ryan Gosling and really didn’t know what to expect… The outcome was a pleasant surprise that left me smiling more than someone taking up drinking. Every character in this movie served a purpose. I honestly cannot think of any glaring dead weight and that is a testament to fantastically written characters.

Now there are actors under the age of 25 in this movie and child actors are known for being less than stellar in certain movies… The kids in this movie are essentially the complete opposite of Rick and Evie’s kid in The Mummy Returns. I have to give a shout out to Angourie Rice who played Gosling’s daughter, Holly. Her character and acting was honestly child-actor-from-Game–of–Thrones-good.

There were hilarious similarities drawn between the character of Jessica/Janet (Janice?) that reminded me of the Carol/Cheryl name issue in Archer and Margaret Qualley AKA Jill from The Leftovers, who really nails her role as the daughter of the problematic hunky father in the phenomenal HBO series, gives a fine performance in this movie however there are certain moments I found her overdoing it.

Kim Basinger also makes an appearance but I found myself thinking she was confused between giving a subdued, quiet performance and being literally stone-faced. There were sprinkles of absurdity sprinkled throughout the movie that had me fucking cracking up during certain moments and Blue Face is an example of the absurdity where I never became tired with his eccentricities. In any lesser movie I would’ve wanted someone to kill him the minute he came on screen, but I just found him ridiculously endearing.

As mentioned, the visual gags and dialogue in The Nice Guys had me cracking up. Without delving into that spoiler territory, there was a moment I thought would come to fruition later on, however it completely deviated the notion in a way I never would have thought of. I sense this is one of those movies I need to rewatch a couple of times in order to witness the gags again and really just to listen to the dialogue again because this is such a funny script; numerous callbacks made and consistently showcasing the various talents both Gosling and Crowe have…

Side note: the soundtrack and aesthetics of this movie are AMAZING. I found myself nodding my head along at certain parts and making my eyes very happy with 1970’s Los Angeles the next.

You hear people complain every other day about “aw man! Where are the original properties nowadays? Why is everything a Superhero movie?? Why is x being remade when the original is so good??!!” I’m in the Camp of I don’t really mind sequels and remakes and reboots and prequels and reboots of the prequels or whatever, but when a completely new story comes into theatres, the general audience just doesn’t seem to gravitate toward it that much as they would an already-established property. It is a sad state of affairs but money speaks louder than originality and in the end, Hollywood is a business. If they have a choice between making an Angry Birds movie and being certain of making a return on it, 10 times out of 10 they will choose to make a movie like that over an R-rated (Rated 14A here in Ontario because boobs shouldn’t scar a 16 year old) action-comedy with witty banter and boobs.

Now you could also argue that making such movies like the Angry Birds allows studios to take more chances with properties such as The Nice Guys so I guess what I’m saying is, if your schedule and life allows it, please watch The Nice Guys.

If you’re looking for a movie that is a culmination of dark humour, shootout action and incredibly fantastic chemistry between the main leads, check out the Mexican and Filipino in The Nice Guys.

The Nice Guys receives 4.5/5 Matt Damon heads.