The Nice Guys (2016) - A Streaming Gem

By Conor Reid.

You don’t have to watch very far in to Shane Black’s 1970s buddy-cop movie, “The Nice Guys”, before finding a brief exchange that, in my opinion, fully encapsulates the film’s commitment to tight writing:

‘Dad, there’s like whores here, and stuff.’

‘Sweetheart, how many times have I told you, don’t say “and stuff”. Just say “Dad, there are whores here.”’

To put my cards fully on the table, this article is only a spotlight on an incredibly well put together and solid picture, not praise for a masterpiece. And that is precisely my point. To say all the wonderful things about The Nice Guys does not require me to put it on to any sort of pedestal. It is a confident film that stands incredibly tall on its own merits; and while the temptation is certainly there to me to deify it, given how most fans of this film - myself included - felt the Nice Guys was robbed at the box office on its opening weekend, we’re not going to be do that today. The Nice Guys is a sincere and entertaining flick, with little room in it’s plot for faff or fat that feels remarkably refreshing in today’s movie-watching climate (and I imagine even back-then's climate), and when you have watched it as many times as I have done, you come to love it in the way one can only ever really truly love something - in spite of it’s flaws. I would not change a single frame of it.

If that has gotten you sufficiently curious then please, feel free to stop here and go watch it. At the time of writing you can get it on Amazon Prime Video; one of their better inclusions.

For those of you still here, we can start with the usual. “The Nice Guys” is a 2016 action comedy film co-written by Shane Black and Anthony Bargorozzi, also directed by Black. Black, notably, wrote and directed Iron Man 3 as well, the only one of the trilogy I ever had any thought to re-watch. He is somebody that I would describe as a good, honest writer; there is something so clean and satisfying in what he does, and in a film like The Nice Guys that cleanliness and sincere desire to entertain is out in full, to the delight of myself and everyone I have ever shown it to.

Ryan Gosling, 10 years ago Ryan Gosling, not yet floating around in space bantering with a rock-alien, but instead walking a lonely beat on the streets of 1970s LA, portrays Harland March, a former cop turned dishonest Private Eye. Russel Crowe’s Jackson Healy, a man who beats people up for money - the film’s words, not mine - plays alongside him; more of a rock than most men (or aliens), the gruffer of the two, yet still remarkably funny and sincere.

It is easier to imagine the sun freezing over than it is to imagine a better casting than these two. Their work is phenomenal, with each actor embodying their own fully realized antihero detective in a way that is endless enjoyable; particularly with March; his antics are some of the best parts of the film. Crowe and Gosling’s comedic timing in this flick is absolutely phenomenal.

The movie follows both of these morally dubious “Guys” through their investigation in to a series of deaths in the sleazy and smog-ridden landscapes of Hollywood, rubbing shoulders with Porno Kings and falling afoul of a grand conspiracy that calls upon each of them to live up to the sort of Nicer Guys they know they can be, deep down inside. To summarize it all like this risks the movie seeming trite, but the reality is far from this.

There is something to be said about a film that simply does its job very well. The amount of steps taken to deliver this in this particular film is staggering - from it’s casting, to the sets, to the action, to the jokes (especially the jokes), all of it comes down to simple Grade A Good. And this is not a diminutive good. Far from it. It is a triumphant good, an unpretentious good.

There are hundreds of boring, pretentious cop movies in the same way there are hundreds of boring and pretentious dramas or comedies or action films. You can feel it when you watch them; you can feel the glow of the film maker’s ego almost reach out and throttle you through the screen. It’s a nightmare out there for it sometimes. But The Nice Guys can be a welcome reprieve from that nightmare, in the way all well made and sincere movies can be.

So that begs the question, why an article for this picture at all? Simply put? Spite; though I should apologize for not fully putting my cards on the table earlier. I hope you can forgive me. The Nice Guys has garnered a cult following in its ten years of existence but when the film came out, to borrow something my teachers used to say about the kids who used to sniff the Pritt Sticks, it had no chance.

It opened on the same weekend as Neighbours 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Angry Birds 2. In what I can only assume to be staggering Hollywood cruelty - or stupidity - the film was heavily impacted by its competition and did not hit the heights it otherwise could have reached. And after everything Black did for Iron Man…disgraceful.

Still, our new techno-media-overlords have been good for something, this time. As I have said, The Nice Guys is now streaming on Amazon Prime in the UK, which has only helped to balloon it’s already loyal fan-base. Given how temperamental streaming services can be with retaining actually good movies I would advise anyone reading this find some time to give it a watch before it’s gone. Or better yet, grab a physical copy.

One of the wonderfully maddening things about living in Belfast is that the term ‘midnight movie’ isn’t something that is widely come across anymore. The idea of a late-night economy going past 11:00pm is still a bit foreign to our wee town - which is why I support the OCC’s initiative so wholeheartedly, the more screenings the better, I say - but it’s unlikely whether most people in town today will ever get the chance at a real midnight movie. So do yourself a favour, have nothing to do the next day, get a copy of this movie on the tv and just sit back and enjoy yourself. Let something good and cleansing take over your attention for an hour and a half, before going back to the murk of life. And yes, I say cleansing, even with all the blood and whores and stuff.

The Nice Guys is available on DVD, Blu-Ray & On Demand.