This ’70s throwback to classic buddy-cop comedy films hits all the right marks, as the fantastic chemistry between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling alongside the film’s great visuals and hilarious comedic moments. All make ‘The Nice Guys’ certainly worth a watch whether you are incredibly fond of action-comedies or not, as I feel this humorous flick definitely deserves more attention.

Plot Summary: In 1970s Los Angeles, bumbling private eye: ‘Holland March’ and muscle-for-hire: ‘Jackson Healy’ become unlikely partners when they find themselves both looking for a missing woman named: ‘Amelia’ following the death of a high-profile porn star. ‘Amelia’s ties to the deceased actress are unclear, but as other members of the porn industry turn-up dead, ‘March’ and ‘Healy’s investigation reveals a much bigger conspiracy than the duo could have ever anticipated…

Heavily inspired by action/comedy classics such as: ‘Lethal Weapon’ and ‘Rush Hour,’ ‘The Nice Guys’ is directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3, The Predator) who clearly brings all his love for this genre to the forefront. As despite the film doing quite poorly in cinemas upon its initial release, the film is clearly a true passion project for Shane Black, being filled with the director’s usual style and classic witty dialogue from start-to-finish.

Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling make an excellent paring as ‘Jackson Healy’ and ‘Holland March’ throughout the film’s story. As both actors have an enormous amount of chemistry with each other and add plenty of humour into the plot through their interactions with their opposite, as well as ‘Holland’s daughter: ‘Holly March’ portrayed by Angourie Rice, who is very sarcastic and angsty towards many of the other characters (which can become a little irritating after a while). Matthew Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Yaya DaCosta and Keith David also have small roles within the film, and are all decent despite not being given much screen-time overall.

Philippe Rousselot handles the cinematography throughout ‘The Nice Guys,’ and although attractive throughout most of the runtime, the variety of shots is probably the weakest aspect of the film just down to elimination. Still, the cinematography does back-up the story very effectively, never taking the audience’s attention away from the mystery unravelling throughout the narrative. I also feel the film’s colour palette could’ve really added to the film’s visual flair more, as the colour palette doesn’t really delve much into the 1970s style aside from the occasional vibrant shot. However, the film does integrate ’70s style in its opening titles which I appreciated, as the Warner Brothers’ logo seen in the beginning of the film is the actual graphic Warner Bros. Pictures used during the 1970s for their films.

The original score by John Ottman and David Buckley fits the film’s style and time-period perfectly, as the soundtrack attempts to replicate the music of the time through its use of trumpets and a drumkit to add to many of the comedic moments and establishing shots, with the tracks: ‘Cars That Drive Themselves’ and ‘P.I. Life’ being my two personal favourites (in addition to the film’s main theme). Many of the film’s action scenes do slightly weaken the score, however, as anytime the screen is filled with bullets and fistfights, the original score suddenly becomes a lot more generic.

The majority of the jokes throughout the film do land very successfully, in my opinion, as ‘The Nice Guys’ has a pretty wide-range of comedy throughout its runtime. From the hilarious and quippy dialogue between the two main protagonists to the parodying of classic action tropes and even a little bit of slapstick thrown in for good measure, all of the comedy throughout the film is pretty inventive and ensures that the film is filled with humour for every kind of viewer.

Despite the film’s main focus being its humour, however, the action throughout the film is actually very well-executed, from a high-speed car chase through to chaotic shoot-outs and bare-fist scuffles. ‘The Nice Guys’ nails it’s action scenes just as well as it’s jokes, as each action set-piece is always exciting and brilliantly choreographed. My only real criticism of the film is probably it’s length, as I feel the film does go on for slightly too long nearing end of its story.

On the whole, it’s a real shame many that audiences had no interest in ‘The Nice Guys,’ as although many would consider buddy-cop action flicks a dead genre similar to westerns. I personally feel we need more films like this, as bringing back these old kinds of stories really makes the film stand-out amongst the complete onslaught of modern superhero blockbusters and generic horror scare-fests. So although I feel a sequel to ‘The Nice Guys’ is very unlikely to ever be made, the mere mention of one as even a possibility still gets me excited to this day, as I would love to see these characters return to the silver screen. Final Rating: 8/10.