Fred Kolb’s review published on Letterboxd:
L.A. 1977: birds are falling out of the polluted air, facial hair and awfully colored shirts are mandatory dress code for guys and Gosling & Crowe are investigating the suspicious death of a famous adult movie actress in a car crash. Welcome to "The Nice Guys", a whacky action comedy mashup between "The Other Guys" and "LA Confidential" that derives most of its highs from its two lead performers. Russell Crowe, with a massive beer belly and serious anger issues, is Jackson Healy, who makes a living by beating the crap out of people for loose change. And Ryan Gosling is Holland March, simultaneously the world's worst detective and father, and not above taking money from an old lady who reports her husband as missing, while March has a clear view on the urn with his name on it sitting on the mantelpiece of her fireplace. Gosling's incoherent rambling and Crowe's grunting make for an endearingly funny combination and I sure wouldn't mind seeing this duo on a case again in the future.
Ultimately though the movie falls short of greatness, a shame given its polished look and high scale action sequences. "The Nice Guys" perceives itself as wittier than it actually is at times and some of the one-liners as delivered by Crowe or Gosling were simply too forced to work and fell flat in the pretty well attended movie theater I saw it in. The script isn't quite up to par with their natural chemistry and the overall convoluted case they are solving, which among other things involves the Detroit automobile industry, is neither particularly exciting nor all that well thought through in the end. It's a solid movie, but this really could, and frankly should have been one of the best of the year.
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