Director Shane Black has written and directed some classic movies with quirky characters and Nice Guys is certainly up there with the best.
A private eye, Holland March (Ryan Gosling), and a tough guy, Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), get tangled up in the seedy underbelly of 1970s Los Angeles as they investigate an adult film star’s mysterious death.
A simple tale, but done hilariously in that the Private Eye is such an inept investigator that he just gets into deeper and deeper trouble. Helping him out after a bruising first encounter, Detective Healey also just cannot seem to get a break, and the two stumble along trying to find the missing person.
When two thugs (Beau Knapp and Keith David) show up to put the heat on them, they decide to team up, with March’s clever but sensitive daughter, Holly (Angourie Rice) in tow (whether March likes it or not).
Nice Guys is a witty and very funny thriller with twists and turns, and also some great action set pieces. Sadly, the film was a box office failure, and it’s hard to understand why. It has a lot of what is missing from today’s movie output, great performances, Ryan Gosling is hilarious in parts, and Crowe provides the grizzled, slightly weary, deadpan backdrop for Gosling’s more nervous, jittery comic performance. Add in a great supporting cast, which includes Kim Basinger.
To top it off, you have some fantastic dialogue and a solid story that is not predictable, and it should have been a massive hit.
This is now available as a new special edition release on 4K UHD and Blu-Ray from Second Sight.
The transfer is top draw, solid and colourful. Audio again gives a fabulous surround mix and there are bags of extras as well, which include a long and very informative chat with the director and other cast and crew.
Other interview subjects are with Co-Producer Ethan Erwin, Director of Photography Philippe Rousselot. Other extras are an audio commentary with the director, a nice video essay on the director’s films by Leigh Singer and a few archive featurettes.
The director says he would love to do a sequel with both characters, but because it was a bomb at the box office, he sadly cannot see it happening.
A great film which just gets better with each viewing, a great release.
FILM- 9 PICTURE – 9 AUDIO -8.5 EXTRAS – 8.5
CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE UHD OR BLU-RAY
