The Nice Guys

With dynamite timing and outrageous threads, Ryan Gosling is a blast in this action-comedy from genre veteran Shane Black (‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, ‘Iron Man 3’). Sharply crafted but still laid back – and hilarious from the off – Black’s buddy-buddy throwback is a committed reworking of the formula he all but invented with his script for ‘Lethal Weapon’.

Gosling is Holland March, a clumsy, drunken private eye in 1977 Los Angeles. Following a series of unfortunate events he finds himself paired up with ultra-serious tough guy Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe, beefy and effective), who rakes in hard cash by beating up his clients’ enemies. What could possibly go wrong?

The backdrop is a gritty-to-the-touch Tinseltown, drowning in orange smog and overrun with golden-age porn stars – think ‘Chinatown’ noir blended with ‘Boogie Nights’ and you’re in the ballpark. When the death of an adult entertainer named Misty Mountains sets March and Healy on the trail of her missing porn-movie colleague Amelia, the duo enter a sprawling maze of shady power structures and dead stakeholders. Along the way they receive a considerable amount of help from March’s badass 12-year-old daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), who has far better investigative instincts than her panicky dad.

Throw in a gorgeously OTT finale, memorable roles for Yaya DaCosta and Kim Basinger and a juicy disco-funk soundtrack (think Earth, Wind & Fire and Kool & the Gang), and this is the perfect police procedural we’ve been praying for. It’s nice, guys.