The Nice Guys

During the opening titles, The Nice Guys tells us that it’s set in Los Angeles in 1977, but such information is superfluous when every frame of this violent action-comedy is overflowing with period nostalgia.

From wild hair and wardrobe choices, to vintage cars, to once-trendy landmarks, the film captures its setting with considerable flair. That invigorating sense of style and attitude, combined with a witty script and charismatic performances, give a considerable boost to what could have been a pedestrian noir thriller.

It follows an unlikely partnership between ruthless enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) and fledgling private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling), who first meet as adversaries — specifically a fight that includes a broken arm — while chasing the same missing girl, whose disappearance might also be connected to the recent death of a porn star (Murielle Telio).

During the subsequent investigation of seedy eccentrics, more dead bodies start to accumulate, most of which are connected to the same adult film. Confrontations ensue with hoodlums, strippers, and higher-ups such as a justice department official (Kim Basinger) with a cover-up in mind.

Then March’s precocious young daughter (Angourie Rice) comes poking around, wanting to bond with dad amid the perilous goings-on.

Almost 30 years after making his screenwriting debut with Lethal Weapon, director Shane Black (Iron Man 3) certainly seems well within his comfort zone with another story of mismatched antiheroes supplemented by the occasional elaborate shootout or chase sequence.

The screenplay dishes out a steady stream of sight gags and one-liners, hitting the mark more often than not. That’s critical, since the underlying plot is a pretty generic mix of stock villains, cloudy motives, and far-fetched twists.

Crowe and Gosling dive head-first into the material and emerge with a quirky yet endearing comic rapport — Crowe as the physically imposing straight man (with an alarming beer belly), and Gosling showing some versatility as the bumbling recipient of many of the slapstick shenanigans.

The Nice Guys offers an amusing send-up of 1970s Hollywood, and specifically the porn industry that was so prevalent at the time. But beneath that surface, the film finds emotional depth with its character-based story of redemption. Along the way, it both embraces and subverts clichés with reckless glee.

Rated R, 116 minutes.