The Nice Guys. Can't really suss out the title. In fact, it may be the worst thing about the film. I enjoyed this a lot. It put me in mind of a bunch of other films, such as The Big Lebowski, L.A. Confidential, even Chinatown a little but mostly Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, also by Shane Black. Actually, he's just gone and remade his earlier work, transplanting Crowe for Kilmer and Gozzle for Downey Jr. Remade 10 years later but RESET about 30 years earlier. Wuzzannhhh?
Well, it's the same odd couple, buddy action comedy thingy but with a nice greasy spoon of 70's U.S. politics underwriting it all. It's set between the oil crises, birds are dying due to air pollution, hippies protest, killer bees appear in newspaper headlines, the murky marriage of Detroit Rock City Big Motor and the U.S. government is exposed via the porn industry. And this is a comedy. And a bloody funny one at that. I can't remember Crowe ever being this funny but throw a dog a bone.....
The writing is top notch, specifically the dialogue exchanges, and Crowe and Gozzle make them shine. I think I snorted aloud when Gozzle asked some hippies, "Which one of you cock and balls wants to make twenty bucks?" but there are myriad other fine lines. When the action slows down, it's not to the detriment of the story but helps flesh out these loser characters.Possibly the most admirable thing about The Nice Guys is how Black sets up cliches and then amusingly subverts them - Gozzle tries to break into a pub while on PI business and must be rushed to ER, he throws a gun to Crowe in a shoot-out which sails over his head and through a window, a few innocent passers-by are shot in the background with no fussing, even Crowe has stacked on the weight to hold up a fat mirror to his Bud White from L.A. Confidential. The only time this method wasn't adhered to was the redemption of Crowe at the behest of Gozzle's precocious daughter. Not entirely forgivable, but almost.
Two more things to add. The scene in the hotel bar and then elevator (see left) is really well underplayed and another example of the cliche subversion tactic. And the dream sequence in the car is sublime. Up there with Blackadder's dream - "Baldrick, who gave you permission to turn into an Alsatian? Oh god, it's a dream, isn't it?"
