A New Golden Duo
May 20, 2016
The Nice Guys (2016).
D: Shane Black. DP: Phillippe Rousselot. W: Shane Black & Anthony Bagarozzi. Starring: Ryan Gosling/Russell Crowe/Angourie Rice/Margaret Qualley/Yaya DaCosta/Keith David/Matt Bomer/Lois Smith/Jack Kilmer/Kim Basinger.
This summer a new duo has joined the streets in an original story by action genre wiz kid and Lethal Weapon creator Shane Black. Also a co-writer and the director of Iron Man 3, Black returns to his roots so to speak with a witty film that has just the right amount of homage to 1970s action films to be fresh, but not overcooked.
Black finds his duo in Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. Not the most likely pairing, but believe me it works. Gosling plays Holland March, a weasel of a former detective who squeezes the most money out of every job he can. A single father to a 13 year old girl, Holly (Angourie Rice), his business is certainly paycheck to paycheck in more ways than one. During his investigation into the disappearance and death of a pornography actress he crosses hairs with Crowe’s Jackson Healy whose been charged with keeping men clear of Amelia Kuttner (Margaret Qualley). In the name of justice Healy throws his weight around for a living with plenty of middle aged machismo. Thrown together they soon realize the puzzle they are dealing with is a lot bigger than they knew.
Set in 1970s Los Angeles, The Nice Guys has a vigorous vintage feel in its construction as well as its trimmings. The credits and music grafts the 70s onto the Los Angeles skyline with its blinking yet homogeneous skyline that draws all sorts of characters into its bowels. The setting works to keep the investigation tools simple and humor brings lightness to a genre overlaid with one-liners and serious courage. Costume designer Kym Barrett (Jupiter Ascending, The Amazing Spider-Man) does not over do the period with Amelia’s flashy yellow gown a particular favorite along with Tally (Yaya Dacosta’s) jumpsuits and Afros. The production gets all its 70s weird out with one go at a Hollywood party that houses mermaids and contortionists.
This duo suffer from March’s excessive drinking and Healy’s inability to deduce anything from clues. The pairs chemistry drives the story rather than the other way around and each time Gosling appears with his caste arm ripped through another suit you have to chuckle. Crowe is a love-able brute here and keeps up with Gosling’s quieter mumbling. Neither actor brings shtick and perhaps this is because they both, for the most part, play serious roles. The script brings in the daughter Holly just enough to break the action and build protective tension between the men. Rice’s Holly is a clever and sassy kid who is a good sounding board for the duo and whose good instincts actually help the case. Maybe it’s time to bring back Harriet the Spy? Happy to see the female voice was not ignored in this film.
Black paces The Nice Guys exceptionally so that by the time you are ready it is over. He seems in command of the material and does not pull gags. Gosling in particular does well with his surprise delivery as he keeps surviving falls and mayhem. Now working on a revival of The Predator with the same producer, Joel Silver, it should be fun to see what Black brings up next. Here’s hoping another The Nice Guys comes our way as I sure hope to see Gosling saying ‘no’ like a child does when you take his toy. Granted he was about to get his arm broken, but it is still comedy gold.
Have not seen the trailer yet? Catch it here: The Nice Guys trailer
Whispering Little Nothings & Somethings In Our Ears
March 22, 2015
Inherent Vice (2014).
D/W: Paul Thomas Anderson. DP: Robert Elswit. Starring: Joaquin Phoenix/Josh Brolin/Katherine Waterston/Benicio Del Toro/Eric Roberts/Owen Wilson/Jena Malone/Serena Scott Thomas/Joanna Newsom/Maya Rudolph/Reese Witherspoon. (Based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel of the same name)
Maybe it’s because I love to read detective fiction? Maybe it’s because I used to live in LA? Maybe it’s because I find Joaquin Phoenix an anomaly no matter what he does? But, I really liked Inherent Vice.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2012 film, The Master, was a slog for me. Despite being intense and methodical, it was also long, dense, and moved at a snail’s pace. His new film, based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel, demands more attention as its crime story is brilliantly foggy and told through a haze of a smoker’s sense of memory as Doc (Phoenix) takes a private eye case with personal connections. But can a man do when his old flame shows up at his place needing help with her new one? Especially when she looks like newcomer Katherine Waterston.
Anderson has never been committed to straight forward narrative story telling, which is part of the challenge of enjoying his films. Inherent Vice is not an exception to this. The film demands your attention from start to finish not just as a piece of visual work, but as a piece of sound. Anderson forces you to lean in and listen intently to whispered conversations veiled by a stoner’s point of view. Compounded with a deliciously retro soundtrack and sly narration the film is not that hard to follow and more enjoyable for those who their PIs a little shaken.
Inherent Vice also luckily has fabulous costumes from Mark Bridges whose worked on all of Anderson’s films and incidentally also costumed Fifty Shades of Grey. Reese Witherspoon’s small role alone left me imagining a follow up film about her and that hair. Reese is one of many smaller roles with namey actors, Benecio Del Toro has a great scene rescuing Doc from the police station. Phoenix is certainly the pulse of the film, fluidly melting into stoner’s world complete with sideburns and sandals. His spars with Det. “Bigfoot” (Josh Brolin) are hysterical and ground the film for certain scenes.
Although I cannot speak to the novel’s adaptation, Inherent Vice has a lush sense of place with Venice acting as a kind of breathing heaping hot spot left on a couch after a stoner has been slumped in for days. The longer I take with the film the more I think about its maze like storytelling that I wonder if the rest of Anderson’s work is ready for a revisit. Inherent Vice is clearly not for everyone and I’m okay with that.