I spend way too much of my time watching movies trying to figure out the formula I'm going to use. In this case though, it took about 10 seconds. The Nice Guys is like watching a version of Inherent Vice that I am smart enough to follow. Both movies share a slick 70s Los Angeles style with a wicked, absurd sense of humor. Where they diverge is that The Nice Guys can't help but turn into an action movie at some point. And that's not a bad thing. Formula is only bad when it's a bad formula or an incomplete one. The Nice Guys is confidently what it is and has as much fun as possible with it.
The movie begins with Jackson Healy (Crowe), a bruiser for hire, beating up low level-private eye Holland March (Gosling), who has been asking around about a missing girl. Healy is hired by that girl (Margaret Qualley from The Leftovers) shortly before she went missing. Soon after their first meeting, Healy and March form a partnership to find the girl when they learn that much more dangerous men are looking to kill her. In the process, they discover a larger conspiracy that goes from city hall to the Detroit auto makers to the porn industry and everywhere in between. It's a convoluted plot filled with many coincidences and lucky discoveries (at one point, a plot device literally falls from the sky) that only works because of how little the story matters to the success of the movie.
It's the rapport between Crowe and Gosling (and Gosling's way-too-mature-for-her-age daughter, Angourie Rice) that sells this. As much as Gosling is known for serious roles and being a hearthrob, he also has a lot of fun playing a goofball (I want to see a movie in which he and Paul Rudd play brothers or something). He commits fully to playing a miserable schmuck and is great at it. Looking at his filmography (and past real-life incidents) there's no reason to think that Crowe would play well in a comedy. But I don't know. Maybe it's his recent SNL hosting stint or just the idea that an older Russell Crowe is a jollier Russell Crowe, but I didn't doubt he'd be well-suited for his role. It's the same role Bruce Willis plays for most of his movies: grizzled veteran who's just trying to do right. There are a number of other actors of note in this, from Gosling's aforementioned daughter, to Qualley as the college activist-gone-missing girl, to Kim Basinger as the chief of the justice department, to Matt Bomer as a hit man named John Boy. They are all filled with quirks and all accents to populate the world that Gosling and Crowe are playing in.
In addition to the comedy being completely in line with my tastes - absurd, dark, silly, and occasionally understated - it's the details that killed me. Things like Bomer's character having the same cheek blotch as John Boy from The Waltons or Crowe including "I'm going to throw up" as one of the given steps in his plan for disposing of a dead body they find.
I loved this movie. Based on the number of times when I was the only person in the theater laughing, this might not be for everyone. Here's a little test to determine if you're like me:
Do you ever watch Boogie Nights and think, "this needs more laughs: easier laughs?"
As far as you're concerned, is the soundtrack to Superbad the only thing that Lethal Weapon is missing?
Do you like the humor of Inherent Vice but don't want to be mystified by whatever the hell is actually happening?
When watching Nightcrawler, do you wish the oppressive darkness could be replaced with nostalgic levity?
As far as you are concerned, would Iron Man 3 have been better as a buddy comedy between Tony Stark and an automated Iron Man suit?
Do you sometimes dream of L.A. Confidential being set 20 years later and with more sex jokes?
If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", The Nice Guys is probably for you.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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