Movie Review - The Nice Guys

The Nice Guys (2016)

Starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Margaret Qualley, Keith David, and Kim Basinger

Directed by Shane Black

***This film is currently streaming via HBO Go/Now***

Director/co-writer Shane Black has created a film in The Nice Guys that perfectly captures the retro 1970s feel of low budget flicks of that era.  This humorous, light-hearted, and slickly seedy vibe along with the chemistry of the film's two stars -- Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling -- help to elevate a film that unfortunately doesn't quite flow as well as it should, overstaying its welcome by a good twenty-five minutes.

With a much more convoluted plot than is typical of comedies, The Nice Guys revolves around the case of two missing girls.  One is popular porn star Misty Mountains and the other is Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley), the daughter of the Los Angeles District Attorney Judith Kutner (Kim Basinger) -- somehow these two disappearances wind up connected through an intricate web of deceit.  It's up to beleaguered (and alcoholic) private investigator Holland March (Gosling) and fellow dick (who's also quite a dick) Jackson Healy (Crowe) to try and figure out exactly what happened.  Along with the help of Holland's tween daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), the trio delve into the seedy world of porn, the unethical business practices of the auto industry, and the perhaps criminal LA law enforcement to try and find out why Misty and Amelia have gone missing.

While I appreciated the intricate plot, it's a bit too complicated to find its footing, although admittedly the kitschy tone helps create an overarching amusement throughout.  Gosling and Crowe are perfect comedic adversaries to one another and their biting repartee is undoubtedly the best part of the piece. Gosling is charmingly rotten, Crowe is bitterly humorous, and together these two men not known for their comedic roles shine where most may doubt they could.  Still, Shane Black's film goes on too long with the aforementioned lengthy plot proving to be a bit too serpentine for its own good.  The Nice Guys is aesthetically pleasing and well-acted, but in the end it's a disappointment.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Third Person

Third Person (2014)

Starring Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Moran Atias, Maria Bello, and Kim Basinger

Directed by Paul Haggis

I've always said I'm a fan of movies that attempt to interweave multiple storylines with an overarching theme.  Third Person is one such film, but it fails so miserably as it attempts to fill its bloated 135-minute runtime with three tales of loss that feel so poorly thematically connected that I couldn't help but wonder why Oscar-winning screenwriter-director Paul Haggis was ever given the green light in the first place.

One piece of the triad deals with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael (Liam Neeson) who has secluded himself in a hotel room to finish penning his next masterpiece.  When his lover Anna (Olivia Wilde) surprises him, we realize that the relationship between these two lost souls is tenuous at best.  Then there's Julia (Mila Kunis), a mom whose son has been taken away from her by her ex-husband Rick (James Franco) after a horrible accident almost left their child for dead...or was not an accident at all?  Finally, Scott (Adrien Brody) is a sneaky businessman who steals upcoming suit designs from ritzy high-fashion designers in order to make cheap knock-offs.  While in a bar in Italy, he meets Monika (Moran Atias) who is struggling to find the money to pay off a gangster who has kidnapped her child...but is this all a con?

None of those stories really sound all that interesting on their own and when put together, they amount to a whole lot of depressing nothingness.   The male actors fare a bit better in the ensemble as most of the females are written so poorly that Kunis, Wilde, and Atias really couldn't do a thing to help forward their characters' plots or dimensionality.  Man or woman, though, I found myself completely removed from the variety of plights on display rather than being pulled in and invested.  Quite frankly, Third Person is a bit of a mess.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - The Burning Plain (2009)

The Burning Plain
Starring Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger, and Jennifer Lawrence
Directed by Guillermo Arriaga

I must say that I wasn't expecting much when I popped in the Netflix streaming disc in preparation for watching The Burning Plain. It got trashed by the critics when it came out in the early fall and all its Oscar hopes (and there was a tiny bit of buzz around it) were dashed rather quickly. I'm not quite sure what the problem was with this flick. Director and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga crafts a tale that contains multiple storylines that seemingly have nothing in common, but intersect in quite an interesting way.

Much like Arriaga's previous screenwriting ventures 21 Grams and Babel, this film contains three different tales. Charlize Theron is the lead in the first storyline. When the film opens, Theron's Sylvia is depressed for some reason, moving from one man to the next, sleeping with them in an unsuccessful attempt to find happiness. The second tale focuses on Gina (Basinger) who is a married mother of four, but finds herself in a torrid affair with a married man. Story #3 focuses on Gina's daughter, Mariana (Lawrence). This segment obviously takes place during a different time as Gina and her lover have died when the mobile home they were in exploded while they were in the midst of having sex (that certainly sounds silly, but it's not presented in a laughable way at all). Somehow these three storylines will intersect and when they do, I found it quite satisfying.

While Arriaga certainly jumps around in time, the story he's trying to tell is strong enough to make it not feel as if it's a gimmick. I was a fan of Arriaga's Babel and 21 Grams (both of which I should give another look) and in this -- his directorial debut -- I think he has quite an eye for visuals. I guess I can say that I'm a fan of this screenwriter/filmmaker and I'd probably go see something simply because he's involved.

Theron is possibly the best I've seen her here. While I liked her Oscar-winning role in Monster, her subdued performance in this is nice to watch. Young Jennifer Lawrence is new to the acting game and I was won over by her. She possibly has the most difficult role acting-wise of the three "lead" ladies and she certainly succeeds in it. Unfortunately, Basinger is the weak link. I feel like I've seen her play this role before -- a soft-spoken, quiet woman whose voice shakes whenever she gets nervous. It's that "voice shaking" that feels like a staple of Basinger's repertoire...I'm not a fan.

Still, I was quite impressed with this overlooked and under-appreciated 2009 film. Had I seen this when it came out in October, it certainly would've been on the Top Ten List for a bit. As it stands now, it certainly makes it into the Top 20. Those of you with streaming Netflix should check this one out.

The RyMickey Rating: B+