The Ryan Gosling Crime Comedy Thriller Gives Megastar His Greatest Role
Ryan Gosling has been a beloved A-lister for a long time, though thanks to his recent role in Barbie, the “I’m Just Ken” singer has been on everyone’s mind for the past year. Despite appearing in a number of classic films such as Blade Runner 2049, La La Land, and The Big Short, many fans still feel that Gosling’s greatest performance can be seen in 2016’s The Nice Guys. The Nice Guys is a neo-noir crime comedy thriller, which was criminally underrated upon release, but has since found cult status.
The Nice Guys
Ryan Gosling’s The Nice Guys was written and directed by revered filmmaker Shane Black, who is best known for helming such features as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3, and 2018’s The Predator.
Black and his writing partner, Anthony Bagarozzi, worked on different variations of the script as far back as 2001, making many changes and tweaks along the way.
At one point, the script had been retooled into a television pilot for CBS, though the content was too violent and rife with curse words, causing the studio to axe the project at the request of their Standards and Practices department.
Russell Crowe And Ryan Gosling
The Nice Guys stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, as a pair of despicable private detectives who are as incompetent as they are surly, making the film’s title an ironic jab.
The pair are joined in the cast by actors such as Keith David, Matt Bomer, Yaya DaCosta, Angourie Rice, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood‘s Margaret Qualley. Russell Crowe has expressed in interviews that The Nice Guys is one of the only films in his catalogue that he’d be happy to return to with a sequel.
A Detective And A Thug
The narrative of The Nice Guys centers on Ryan Gosling as Holland March, a bumbling private eye who rips off elderly women in late 1970s Los Angeles.
After being hired to locate a pornographic actress named Misty Mountains who is presumed dead, March crosses paths with a violent thug named Jackson Healy.
Healy is first hired to scare March off the case, before eventually teaming with him after he is himself intimidated by a pair of gang members.
Investigating The Case
While investigating the case together, the Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe learn that Misty had been working on an experimental new medium in the days before her mysterious death.
The young actress was apparently mixing pornography with investigative journalism, in partnership with an anti-pollution organization, to call attention to the destruction of the environment at the hands of big corporations.
As the narrative of The Nice Guys continues, Healy and March uncover a far-reaching conspiracy, involving the Justice Department, the major auto manufacturers, and a wide array of corrupt politicians.
Ryan Gosling At His Best
Ryan Gosling‘s performance in The Nice Guys as Holland March is truly one of his best, with comedic edits of his best moments flooding social media in the years since the film has released.
While The Nice Guys failed to perform well financially, taking in just under $63 million at the global box office against an estimated production budget of $50 million, the film has reached critical acclaim. Today, the movie touts an impressive 91 percent certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Streaming The Nice Guys
REVIEW SCORE
Those interested in catching The Nice Guys can stream the cult classic on Apple TV+ today. As stated before, this is a criminally underrated modern masterpiece, easily deserving of a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
