#340: THE NICE GUYS

2016
Directed by Shane Black
Mystery, Comedy, Action.

It feels like it's been a while since I had my last Ryan Gosling fix, but fortunately he has come back after a little break making The Big Short, and now this new film The Nice Guys. Here he is paired up with Russell Crowe, an actor I've always found to be very hit and miss. The Nice Guys is part Comedy, part Action and part Neo-Noir detective Drama. Set in 1978, it has a very vintage look and feel that was very well accomplished. Visually it reminded me of the films Anchorman and Boogie Nights, as the characters all wear their Disco influenced attires and go to seedy parties. 

Ryan Gosling plays a private investigator who is also a widow, left alone to look after his very mature 13 year old daughter. Russell Crowe's character isn't as fleshed out, with not a lot said about his personal life, but he essentially beats people up for money (I'm starting to see why they chose Russell Crowe for this role). At first he is sent to beat up Ryan Gosling for getting too deep into a missing persons case. Crowe comically breaks Gosling's arm in one of the funnier scenes in the film, and so they have fun with Gosling having to spend the entire film with his arm in a cast. Eventually the two "nice guys" end up working together when they realise they have the same pair of gangsters out to get them. They are also on a mission to try and find missing teenager Amelia.

The Nice Guys has two strong elements going for it. The first is that the acting is top notch. Gosling and Crowe have a very radiant chemistry on screen and make an unlikely good buddy duo. Certainly this is one of Crowe's best roles in a while now, and it seems naturally tailored to his personality. But the real star of the show is newcomer Angourie Rice, who plays Gosling's teenage daughter. Normally one of my pet peeves in cinema is children in leading roles, but she didn't annoy me one bit! The character is a little odd though, considering she is said to be 13, she looks closer to 16, but throughout the film she is seen driving cars, watching pornos and taking out bad guys. The running gag of the film is that she is better at solving the mystery than her PI dad is, and so she tags along for the entire film. I'm just not sure why they didn't make her character a bit older so that her personality traits were more fitting. The other strongest element of the film is that it has a pretty compelling mystery with some thrilling scenes. The best scene of the film takes place in a Playboy-esque mansion where a huge sex party is being held, and two have to interrogate people and search for clues. It definitely has nods to Film Noir and detective films. 

There were however some glaring issues with The Nice Guys. The biggest one being that, you could tell this film was attempting to be comedic all the way through, but I felt like so many of the "jokes" completely bombed. I laughed out loud only twice during the film, and I found the rest of the cinema were pretty quiet for most of the film too. The attempts at humour were so weak that I just couldn't understand why it needed to have Comedy parts at all. Especially when the writers have done a pretty good job coming up with a good Mystery/Thriller story. The drama elements work well too, with Gosling struggling to raise his daughter alone. The Nice Guys also feels the need to cram in big Action sequences. There are plenty of fist fights, gun shootouts and even a couple of car chases thrown in there. Again these Action scenes didn't really feel that necessary or add much to the film. In fact a rather large Action sequence near the end was so over the top and ridiculous that it ended up padding out the plot unnecessarily and I was just left wanting the film to reach it's conclusion. When the film does end, it throws in a sequelbaiting part which may be a little ambitious. 

Ultimately I have to say that I enjoyed The Nice Guys enough to recommend it. The Mystery plot is what compelled me the most, and the performances are very remarkable. Maybe others will enjoy the jokes and the big Action scenes more than I did, but for me they fell very flat. I think this film could have been improved with a re-edit, taking out some of the goofier parts and focusing more on the Mystery plot, and it would have been a tighter film. The movie definitely shares its blueprints with director Shane Black's earlier film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The Nice Guys is a good one watch film, but not great enough to be worth revisiting. 6/10.

#329: MILES AHEAD

2016

Directed by Don Cheadle

Drama, Biopic.

In Don Cheadle's directorial debut, he portrays the most important Jazz musician of all time, Miles Davis. The film is set in 1979, near the end of a 5 year retirement from music that Miles Davis took. The film also has flashbacks to the late 50s, showing Davis' relationship with Fran Taylor. Right of the bat, it seems like an odd idea to set the film heavily during a period where Miles Davis was at his least creative of his entire life.

Don Cheadle as an actor does a superb job as always. He absolutely looks the part, he has the croaky voice and the shades spot on, as well as the constant swearing. His trumpet playing looks very authentic, to the point where I'm guessing he actually learnt how to play. But Cheadle's work here as a writer and director clearly needed more work before jumping into such an ambitious project. It feels like Don Cheadle was desperate not to make a linear biopic that takes the journey from youth to death. Instead the film is set mostly in 1979, and switches back to the late 50s. But with such a large and interesting career, it is a shame that only these two distinct periods are covered. The two eras play like two very different films. The 1979 plot sees Columbia label reps stealing Miles' first demo tapes of new recordings. With the aid of a rogue Rolling Stone magazine reporter, played by Ewan McGregor, the two weld pistols and go on a long cat and mouse chase trying to retrieve the stolen demo tapes. This is an incredibly mediocre plot that sadly takes up the majority of the film. When I think of the legendary trumpeter, I don't picture him getting into car chases and running around shooting at record label reps. Ewan McGregor is also horribly miscast as a drunken, coke snorting reporter with a dodgy haircut. He completely coasts through his performance here, adding no real spark to the film, and his chemistry with Cheadle is completely flat. I think McGregor is capable of far better than this role.

Thankfully the scenes set during the late 50s are a little closer to what you would expect from a film about Miles Davis. He spends a lot of these scenes either recording in the studio, or playing live in smokey Jazz clubs. The film focuses on his romantic relationship with Fran Taylor, who appeared on the album cover of "Someday My Prince Will Come" and is considered to be his muse. The scenes where Davis is just doing what he does best, playing trumpet with his band, are far more exciting to watch than the silly faux gangster movie parts. It makes me wish that Don Cheadle had just made a more traditional Biopic and told the life story of Miles Davis, focusing on what matters most: The music. The changes in chronology feel too much like something Tarantino would do. There are very brief appearances of actors portraying John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock, but they are reduced to extras with barely any spoken lines.

Considering Miles Davis is one of the most important and legendary musicians to ever walk the earth, it feels like Miles Ahead has really sold him short and not focused enough on the things that mattered most. If Don Cheadle had chosen to focus more on his musical journey, involving many of the other great musicians he worked with, this could have potentially have been a great film. Instead we get half a decent Music film, and half a mediocre gangster film.When I think of Miles Davis I do not think of a gun toting coke fiend, I think of the legendary musician, and I don't know why Cheadle has tried to stray from that so vastly. After seeing Miles Ahead, I really hope that someone is inspired to make a much more deserving Miles Davis biopic. A real shame since Don Cheadle's performance really hit the nail on the head. 5/10.