The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016)

Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling play, respectively, an odd-job thug for hire and an ethically flexible, somewhat dim-witted private eye in Los Angeles on the trail of a missing porn star in another American nostalgicised revisitation to the 'seventies. Presumably the fact that the era is seen as full of enough modern comforts and vices, but without the complexities yet of technology become too fast to keep up with, has a lot to do with the current trend. Of course, as well as being when most of the filmmakers involved were growing up. In any case, when used well, as they are here, the selective period trappings add a lot of entertaining campy colour.
Then the second element that has to work, with the duo obviously being a mismatched partner coupling, is the chemistry between them and that is a resounding success. It bodes well on this front that the director wrote Lethal Weapon and then as a director brought us the oddball buddy noir Kiss Kiss Bang Bang too. The dialogue is frequently rip-roaringly funny and the overall style completely irreverent without being crass. The plot itself contains nothing much worth scrutinising, but if that can be accepted as the price of keeping it jaunty, The Nice Guys is a refreshingly diverting addition to a genre that's otherwise already starting to get a bit jaded.

7/10