Eventually They Will Finish... "The Nice Guys"

The Nice Guys (2016)

Rated R

Starring Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Margaret Qualley, Angourie Rice,

Written and Directed by Shane Black

The Story:

Holland March (Gosling) has been hired to find a girl (Qualley) who has gone missing. Coupled with the recent death of a porn star, it seems like everyone is trying to find this girl, including another private eye, Jackson Healy (Crowe). The two cross paths, exchange blows, and soon thereafter reluctantly team-up to try and solve a pair of cases that seem intertwined while navigating around some crazy people that make up Los Angeles in the late 1970s.

This is a strange one.

The trailer seemed like it would be a really good movie, but it failed to connect with audiences when it came out.

My only guess on that would be that perhaps Shane Black made the movie too dark and seedy, centering a great bit of it around the porn industry in the tale of a missing girl and a murdered starlet.

Not exactly the best date material for starters, or I guess, at least not out in public.

:)

Plus, when the smartest character in the movie is March's daughter (Rice) that also doesn't bode well.

That said, there are several great moments scattered throughout the film, and it's also bogged down by several stretches of "meh" as well.

It's a game effort by all involved, especially Gosling who is possibly the most nuanced private eye ever to grace the silver screen. How he managed to get, and keep, his job is a wonder.

Crowe gets to play the requisite heavy, and the two share a pretty good chemistry together.

It's no Lethal Weapon, but we've been waiting to see a buddy team-up like that for nearly 30 years to no avail.

Black tries to catch lightning in a bottle again, but comes up a bit short.

Bottom line, I liked it, but didn't love it like I hoped I would.

Final Grade: B-

Financial Crisis Fodder... "The Big Short"

The Big Short (2015)

Rated R

Starring Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, John Magaro, Finn Wittrock,

Directed by Adam McKay

The Story:

3 separate but equal stories propel the story of the collapse of the housing market. Michael Burry (Bale) begins the proceedings with the realization that the housing bubble is about to explode, not just pop. He invests the millions he has under his control on the fact that this will happen. Banks line up to take his money, and the waiting and the "are you crazy?" begins. Meanwhile Jared Vennett (Gosling) learns of the venture and proposes it to just about everyone until Mark Baum (Carell) decides to invest as well. Finally, two young entrepreneurs (Magaro and Wittrock) enlist the reclusive Ben Rickert (Pitt) to get their feet in the door so they too can all bet against the housing market to crash.

Something it had never, ever done before.

Bet you know how this one ends, right?

Correct, because most of us lived through it, and still haven't fully recovered.

That's what makes this movie so irritating.

It's good, don't get me wrong.

However, McKay has to enlist some weird shtick throughout the movie to inject humor in an otherwise humorless situation.

Why is Margot Robbie in a bathtub? For no other reason than to put her in a tub of bubbles and explain part of the financial crisis.

So the movie can be jarring in delivery from time to time, but otherwise, it's a pretty compelling movie.

However, it's also extremely depressing because you realize that you're rooting for these people to "win", which means the average homeowner loses.

The banks got bailed out, these guys got rich, and it was everyone with a mortgage who ended up getting screwed.

So that sort of tempers the overall enjoyment of the film.

That said, all of the actors do a great job, and you have to give credit to Steve Carell for giving probably the best, and most passionate and pained performance of the entire cast.

Final Grade:  B

Forget Friday Night Lights But Always "Remember The Titans"

Remember the Titans (2000)

Rated PG

Starring Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Donald Faison, Hayden Panettiere, Ryan Gosling, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst, Kate Bosworth

Directed by Boaz Yakin

The Story:

The year is 1971 and a federal mandate declares that an all-white school and an all-black school be integrated. Coach Herman Boone (Washington) is brought in as the head coach ahead of Coach Bill Yoast (Patton) who must swallow his pride and coach the defense instead. They assemble a talented mixture of athletes of both color and prepare for their season.  Before the year is over, this Virginia community is going to learn to overcome the obstacle of race as the Titans respond to the controversy in the only way that truly matters: they win.

Of course, this is based on a true story.

Add to that, this is produced by Walt Disney studios.

I would have to say that pound for pound, nobody does true stories better than Disney.

Naturally, Washington gives a great performance.  When doesn't he?

Patton does as well. He's a seriously underrated character actor who never gives a bad performance, and usually elevates any film he's in just by being there.

That said, the movie is about the football players, and how they gel to become a team.

I won't single out any one as better than the other in their performance because like the men they portrayed, they do this as a team, and they shine.

I will give mention to young Hayden Panettiere though. Already an accomplished actress by the time she got this role, I would say this is the film that catapulted her on her way to stardom.

She is absolutely precious as Coach Yoast's daughter who lives and breathes the game, almost more so than her father does.

This is one of those great sports movies that is great, even for people who don't like sports.

Final Grade: A-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: This is one of those movies I've always meant to pick up and add to the library, but have yet to get around to doing so.  Perhaps next year with the inevitable 15th anniversary re-release?

You Don't Bring Ryan Gosling to a Sean Connery Fight! "Gangster Squad"

To keep the City of Angels clean... someone's going to have to get dirty.

Dude, that's actually a pretty good tagline...


The Story:

Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is a former boxer turned gangster.  Instead of being part of the eastern syndicate, he's setting up shop in LA, and running out any competition and keeping Chicago at bay.  So, his operations means that back in 1949, he had cops and judges on his payroll, and this irritates the Chief (Nick Nolte) so he asks a no-nonsense homicide detective (Josh Brolin) to form a badge-less group of cops (Ryan Gosling, Robert Patrick and Giovanni Ribisi to name a few), to make Cohen's operations start to fall apart.  He recruits his squad, and they go after Cohen...

But not everyone is going to walk out of this unscathed on either side.

I couldn't tell you why this one didn't do that great at the box office.  It's a little long, and slow.  Actually, I would use methodical.

Everything builds, slowly, surely, until the final confrontation.

I was engrossed in the story for the most part.

Recreating Los Angeles circa 1949, it is a beautiful movie to watch.  The clothes, the cars, the set pieces... all wonderful to see and very well done.

There isn't nearly as much squad interaction as there should be... or for that matter, much of the squad's mucking up of Cohen's operations gets glossed over very quickly.

Perhaps they could have trimmed some of the exposition and early scenes that don't really do much except to reinforce what we have already gathered.

Plus, while eventually she is important to the story, the love interest (Emma Stone) can be some of the cause for the slow factor as well.  Love stories in action films are often unnecessary, but added I think solely to increase female interest in a guy's movie.

It's no Untouchables, but it's not Unwatchable, either.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again if it was on, but nothing screams for me to run out and buy this one.