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The Nice Guys

Finish first this time

In the neon-saturated world of the 1977 Los Angeles porn industry, a slightly unhinged P.I. (Ryan Gosling) and a local leg-breaker (Russell Crowe) team up to find a missing girl. Gosling displays surprisingly good comic timing and slapstick physicality, and Crowe, who paunched it up 50 pounds for this, dials down the gravitas and allows himself to appear silly. This unabashedly violent, noir-pulp buddy bash from Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) is a constantly funny Looney Tune for grownups. And scene-stealer Angourie Rice deserves a special mention as Ryan’s precocious 13-year-old daughter. (116 min)