We got our first proper look at main men Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in Shane Black’s latest a couple of days ago, but here’s a taste of the movie itself, as the trailer for The Nice Guys has landed in all its sweary, nudie, violent glory.
Black wasn’t wrong when he described this film as “a caper. A little fast, a little funny and a little rough in places, kind of coarse…” as it’s clearly all that and more. And it also feels like the Iron Man 3 director is back in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang territory, but with a harder edge. You may think it’s strange that his Marvel film is listed and not his prior work with Robert Downey Jr., but if you’re going to reference anything, it makes sense to pick the billion-dollar sensation.
Produced by Joel Silver, The Nice Guys is set in 1977, and stars Gosling as down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March, who is forced to work with hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Crowe) – even after the latter has done him a serious injury – to investigate the case of a missing girl named Amelia (Margaret Qualley) that expands to encompass a dead porn star and, eventually, a big conspiracy that reaches its tendrils into the highest corridors of power. As the duo digs into the case, they discover that turning over these Los Angeles rocks is not particularly conducive to good health…
Hard-boiled (and sometimes knowingly silly) dialogue crackles through this one, which gives the impression that everyone involved had a fine old time making it. Here’s hoping that translates to the final film, due on June 3 next year and boasting Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger and Ty Simpkins among its ensemble.