Delightful spoof

Set in Los Angeles of the late 1970s ‘Nice Guys’ is a delightful spoof of how the city reacts to the death of fading porn star Misty Mountains (Murielle Tello) in a car crash. But her aunt Mrs Glen (Lois Smith) insists she saw her two days later.

So she approaches down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) to take up the job. Despite being skeptical of her claims he knows about a missing girl named Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley) and that she could be involved. But Amelia does not want to be found out and hires enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) to keep him away.

To add to the milieu Amelia’s mum Judith (Kim Basinger) hires the private eye to find her daughter for they have a love-hate relationship. And last but not the least is Holland’s sassy daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) who steals the show.

Actually the action is of little consequence, it is the classy script that is the USP. The banter between Holland and Jackson in different situations, especially the feisty parties, where a female rump is mistaken for a table, is worth raving. Holly too calls a spade a shovel with particular reference to her chain-smoking dad.

We get to meet Amelia more than halfway into the film but she makes up for lost time in calling her mother a “capitalistic, corporate….” in probably the best lines of the film. But by now the story recedes into the background. Humour is the key.

Kudos to scriptwriter Joel Silver whose scintillating lines, deftly put across, virtually make the film and director Shane Black (also co-writer) spaces them out well. A plethora of performers give it a further thrust.

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are expectedly good with Angourie Rice being the icing on the cake. Kim Basinger is wasted in a minor cameo in this never-to-be-missed entertainer. But viewers be warned that we saw an uncensored print and one isn’t sure the same one will be screened for you.

Film Name : Nice Guys
Cast : Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer & Kim Basinger
Direction : Shane Black
Genre : Crime-comedy
Likes : Script, Crowe and Gosling
Dislikes : Hardly any

By Ervell E Menezes