David James 🍩’s review published on Letterboxd:
Third time around, I'm realizing this might be one of the best comedies of the last decade. The script is razor sharp, absolutely bursting with layers of jokes woven into the neo noir plot and settled firmly into the 1970s LA setting. In a way, it feels like the natural midpoint between The Big Lebowski and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood... except, y'know, full of fist fights and gun battles. I could watch a whole series with these guys, their chemistry is that tight. Gosling especially has never been so charmingly doofusy, it's wonderful. Once again, my wife picked this one out - and I have to say that it feels extra good to know we're on the same wavelength here. It's rare she gets so jazzed to rewatch something I completely adored, so I relish the opportunity. The Nice Guys is the kind of movie where every scene is so jam-packed with jokes, visual gags, callbacks, and genuinely hilarious facial expressions that I find myself laughing more each time. So appropriately, I bounced the score up half a notch.
Maybe I'll finally do a real review next time. Here's a quote instead, plus a little more, a nice slice of why the movie works so damn well - the writing is impeccable:
March: Tally... This is not you. You're not a murderer!
Healy: She just said she killed three people!
March: I know but I'm saying deep down.
Healy: Hey look, once a mistake, by the time you get to three... You're a murderer. She's a murderer.
So, it gets me cackling every time, but Healy is revealing his own questionable logic about what makes someone a murderer. Sure, once is a mistake, but three makes you a murderer.
Over the course of the movie, we see Healy kill two people: the blue face goon and the diner guy. When he's faced with the opportunity to kill a third, John Boy, he spares him - thus, deep down, he is not a murderer - he's just made mistakes in the past. He's finally trying to do and be better. His character arc is resolved, voila! Crucially, the movie never draws attention to this. It's just there waiting for you to think about it, after the laughs die down. Perfect example of smart-stupid writing, where it takes a lot of skill to deftly weave subtle themes and stupid characters and outright jokes into an engaging story with enough subtext to chew on if you feel like it. Love it.
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