I liked this but…
This film’s biggest issue is that it’s no Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. And considering that I was (still am kind of) obsessed with KKBB, NIce Guys feels like a minor disappointment.
Just realized Bruce’s wife The Last Boy Scout is also the Airline Hostess in Commando.
They probably had their Honeymoon at Val Verde.
What a total blast. Most entertaining movie of the of year so far. Crowe’s flashback to displaying equanimity destroyed me.
Thinking about it last night, I concluded that I like THE NICE GUYS the least of the three Black-directed features. I really didn’t care for the central “mystery” (half-baked and kind of dumb), Basinger’s lousy performance and one-dimensional villain, and the film’s wasting of Keith David as a heavy. Many of the jokes are great, though, and I loved Gosling. I thought Gosling’s physical comedy was the best thing about the movie. The Lou Costello schtick when his character discovers the porn producer’s corpse was classic.
I’m glad that Black is moving away from the gumshoe stuff with his next few projects because he’s not very good at plotting mysteries and his approach is becoming overly formulaic. This movie was, at times, too reminiscent of both KKBB and THE LAST BOY SCOUT.
And, again, what a waste of Keith David. He’s one of my favorite actors and it was a crushing disappointment to see the kind of role he was given here. I actually found the movie’s treatment of him to be demeaning.
Yeah…pretty much when it turns out that
the reason why everyone is looking for the pornstar is because of a video she did that implicates her mother in some criminal activities.
I kind of started tuning out.
Very good, not great. Unfortunately, the multiple trailers spoiled some of the best moments or situations. There were still some good, unspoiled moments to be had (Gosling falling over the balcony and falling down the hill absolutely destroyed my audience with laughter), but more should have been saved for the theatrical experience itself.
Even then, the film felt like it was less dense with jokes than what was presented in KKBB. What’s there is very good, but it’s not as rapid fire as I was expecting. I still enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to anyone, but I’d caution you to lower your expectations somewhat.
AI’m really looking forward to seeing this again. Loved the whole house party sequence. “Im a cowboy, shoot me”
And the guy in the tree looking costume getting shot.
The daughter explaining to Crowe about what happened to her mom and why Gosling felt responsible was particularly sad.
Saw it today and really enjoyed it. Though like Judas said, many of the best gags were spoiled in the trailers.
The Making of Book is available on May 31st.
Spot on. Perfectly fine film but not the home run I was banking on.
so glad I avoided the trailers to this!
Yeah that might have helped.
There was a lot going on in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, that while it is an often hilarious, subversive take on the crime genre, it’s a film that’s about the tragic way Hollywood tends to use women.
There’s really nothing going on in The Nice Guys. It is what it is: a fun comic caper featuring two likable actors. And that’s not a bad thing! It’s just sort of disappointing when put up against Black’s previous works.
There’s stuff going on in THE NICE GUYS!
I don’t really think KKBB is specifically about the way Hollywood exploits women. At least not Hollywood specifically, considering the final moment where Perry slaps around Harmony’s dad. That stuff is baked into the story in the way the women are treated, but I wouldn’t say it’s a movie ABOUT that, if you know what I mean.
THE NICE GUYS flirts with the idea that as insufferable and unfocused young people are about justice (be it social or environmental), it comes from a place of sincerity that’s needed to balance out the mundanity with which a lot of injustice is done. And similarly, young people are more inclined to use art (IT’S NOT A PORNO!!!) to get that message out there. And of course, the ending of the film suggests that even then it’s not enough… because people are too dumb to listen.
but ey… in spite of that, you keep truckin’ on.
Because we’re…
NICE GUYS DETECTIVE AGENCY
AMan I’m alone in loving this film it seems.
RIMSHOT!!
It must be noted: the actress who played Gosling’s daughter was AMAZING in this. She’s gonna get a lot of work from this film, and I see her becoming the next Chloe Grace Moretz.
I wasn’t won over by this one. The lead performances are very effective (especially Gosling, who demonstrates a talent for slapstick that I hope other filmmakers will exploit), but there’s something about Black’s directed features, with his trademark snarky dialogue and madcap action, that feels utterly weightless. The Nice Guys was funny enough while I was watching it, but as soon as I’d left the theater, I already felt the memory of it dissipating. I wish it was either weirder or wackier or meaner.
Also, shame on Black for utterly wasting folks like Keith David and Kim Basinger.
oof. I don’t think that sounds as positive as you think it does.
But isn’t it? So much of the central story for KKBB is about how women come to Hollywood looking for fame and fortune–and get used up by the system: Harmoney comes to Hollywood and becomes a burnout. Her sister, so desperate to escape her awful life, runs to find the guy who played the main character in those Gossamer novels she loves, and discovers him fucking (who she thinks is) his own daughter. It’s Harry (in true noir fashion) desperately trying to give some manner of dignity to the fallen women (both living and dead) of LA, and it’s the constant self-deprecating jokes of women who don’t really make it in the acting world. Yeah, it might not be completely about how Hollywood treats women—but it’s definitely there. And the film treats it seriously, enough that it balances all the goofy shit that happens in KKBB.
I just never really got that with The Nice Guys.
Though it is pretty humorous (and perhaps points to how weightless Nice Guys is) that the film glosses over what is pretty much a downer ending:
the girl they spend the entire movie looking for gets killed, bad guys get away with it, and Russel Crowes character goes right back to drinking.
hahahaah, I was thinking the same thing.
And good points about KKBB. Yeah, that stuff is there for sure. I just maintain that it’s not necessarily what the movie is ‘about’. But I think we’re just approaching the concept of what a movie is ‘about’ differently in this case.
But when you describe the movie like that, the movie sure does victimize women a lot. Hahahah
Yeah, it’s a bleak narrative trajectory. I wish that Black was capable of giving it all some existential bite, ala the Coens.
What do you guys make of Basinger’s “Detroit” monologue? It felt weirdly out-of-place to me (not on a thematic level, necessarily, but an aesthetic one).
I would agree that the Detroit stuff felt undercooked in general (along with Basinger’s limited screentime)… and would partly explain why the monologue feels out of place aesthetically.
A[quote name=“mcnooj82” url=“/community/t/155439/the-nice-guys-2016-discussion-thread/60#post_4069689”]I would agree that the Detroit stuff felt undercooked in general (along with Basinger’s limited screentime)… and would partly explain why the monologue feels out of place aesthetically.
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It’s a shame, because with stronger set-up, the “Detroit” stuff would have gone a long way in giving the movie some bite.