The Nice Guys Mini Review

Released : June 3rd 2016

Certificate : 15

Director : Shane Black

Cast : Ryan Gosling, Russel Crowe, Angourie Rice, Margaret Qualley, Matt Bomer

Plot : In 1977 Los Angeles a private investigator (Gosling) teams up with fist of hire enforcer (Crowe) after their paths cross due to two merging cases, the disappearance of a girl and the death of a porn star.

Shane Black, an writer director who is behind Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3, is returning to the buddy cop structure for another period piece comedy. Adding to his list of A list actors to his film, he has opted for Ryan Gosling for the depressed, alcoholic, private detective single dad. And Russel Crowe for the aimless, struggling alcoholic, angry enforcer.

For Shane Black fans, or people who are aware of his work, it is difficult not to compare the film to his past work as a reference point for how good The Nice Guys is. Given that here the standard hasn’t lapsed as well as the formula and tone, it is largely down to personal preference which film remains as Blacks best. As The Nice Guys is another shinning example of Blacks ability to construct brilliant (and funny) set action pieces, wit and blunt humour of the script and a diluted plot that serves a chaotic backdrop of our duo.

Gosling and Crowe work brilliantly together, but given Blacks record with creating the perfect on screen duo, this is to be expected. This makes you wonder whether its down the actors chemistry, or that is just a by product of Blacks script writing process. For the duo dynamic, what might be felt for some is a slight lapse in quality from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, due to these characters being less original than KKBB. But this isn’t down to Ryan and Russel’s effort, by any means. Neither one of them shines more than the other, as both actors approach the film with the perfect amount of character commitment and professional playfulness to bring both the verbal and non-verbal humour jumping of the screen.

Flaws with the film are limited, due to the fact that it is contains such an infectious amount of energy and wit that Black always brings.But some hypercritical could argue that it is a rehash of past buddy cop films or that down to personal taste it doesn’t hit their funny bone. This is a very niche audience thou, as The Nice Guys is a huge fan and general audience pleaser.

Verdict : A film that’s a irresistible comedic treat, with a period piece set that is a great move for Black.

Verdict : 4/5

 

Zero Dark Thirty DVD Review

US The Office

Released : January 25th 2013

Certificate : 15

Director : Kathryn Bigelow

Cast : Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Kyle Chandler, Mark Strong, Édgar Ramírez

Plot : After 9/11, the US army and CIA launch the largest man hunt in history to find all those responsible for the deaths of 3,ooo civilians. The story follows the working of Maya (Chastain), who starts out as a CIA high achieving office clerk, but is sent to Pakistan to work  as a front line investigator.

The directing writing duo that brought the moral panic of Iraq warfare to ultra-realism level with The Hurt Locker, attempt to bring the same level of realism to another side of the conflict, the wider picture fought behind desk and in offices. Bigelow and Mark Boal take their talent to a film which unpacks on the quantity of battle/tense scenes and the solider mentality, and replaces it with the tedious and frustrating ten-year governmental viewpoint. So what could audience expect going into this, a still large presence of set piece thrills that made their previous work famous, unbiased story telling that shies away from any political messages, and a dependence of character driven drama interwoven in the true story being told. Well for ZD30 a tighter lip attitude towards the character development for sure, as this is traded in for scope of story and (almost) all acting credit and audience investment resting upon Chastain character. So for audience members who revealed in the unique and thought provoking solider character drama, that was of a quality that matched that of set piece thrills that the film provided, their might be disappointment. As quantity on this aspect of the film is traded in, for the creation of a huge scoping ‘how done it’ rather than ‘who done it’ tale.

For the overall feel vibe and story arc of the film, it does have to deal with the weight of an over two and a half run time that for the majority is set behind desks and in offices. For this reason, some audiences will have the same level of difficulty as they do with many unflinching true story films, such as Spotlight (although that film was much more character driven). Mark Boal writing demonstrates his great diversity, as previously being able to craft dialogue for small skirmish warfare, and now to encompass a decade man hunt. Due to this setting more rides on Boal then Bigelow, as the office space environment provides little breathing space for her talents. Her signature shaky camera movement and obscured camera shots added little to office staged antics, luckily she has her chance to shine in a sprinkling of set conflict sequences and handling of torture sequences. Boal keeps the film grounded in subtle, subtlety dramatized character development, specialist technical meeting dialogue, and the right amount of character conflict and emotional exchange to recreate the trademark realism that was present in The Hurt Locker with not a pitch feeling dramatics or overly emphasised. This is the talent lacking in the bio-pic and true story genre of late.

To address Bigelow addition to the film, her craft work is most noticeable present within the torture scenes, (and to avoid spoilers what will be referred to as) the Camp Chapman scene and the famous talked about final sequence of the film, which is the raid in Abbottabad. From these scenes and others Bigelow keeps audiences (as with previous work) in the palm of her hand, with any many outdoor sequences of the film keeping you edging forward with anticipation that something will go off. This effect is partly present in her previous work, where she in effect turned explosions into basically jump scares, which hit much harder than any horror genre attempt. The close to home topic and tension that is derived from this film keeps audience in an unpleasant state of fear and unease about the film, as it should do. Contrary to popular opinion of the final act of the film, it isn’t the tense’s sequence ever (due to a combination of knowing the outcome and an intent to maintain the films overall ultra-realism, which does get in the way of the thrills), but it does prove to be the best shot sequence of the film. Alike the opening of Spectre, the opening exceptionally thrilling, but was a stunning sceptical of directorial talent.

Jessica Chastain carries a large weight of the film as Jeremy Renner did in The Hurt Locker, as being both the most interesting and dominate character, with all other roles to a large degree being reactionary to her/him. This is not to say that supporting performances lack, Kyle Chandler pulls off yet another underrated performance as Chastain’s manager in the field, and Jason Clarke keeps for the most part a charismatic character grounded in the film. Mark Strong’s speech boasted in the trailers in another highlight of the supporting cast contributions also worthy of mention. But Chastain is, as she needed to be, the runaway from this film. As due to her brilliant performance, the film succeeds at its ability to make this ten-year national manhunt, be reduced to a very personal obsessive quest of one person, Chastain’s character. She was very worthy of the nomination she gained, and she likely missed out to Lawrence due to the lacking in areas of quantity of emotional outburst and uniqueness of character. As the final shot of the film fades out on Chastain’s face it perfectly encompasses the level of relief and exhaustion felt after a burning passion and obsession lasting ten years. Additionally, the performance has the great look of a genuine character development, as she become consumed by the job as the film progresses.

Zero Dark Thirty is a refreshing gritty piece of award bait, which doesn’t appeal to a wide audience. These two factors of award bait and niche appeal is most likely why it hasn’t quiet stood the test of time as far as peoples appreciation and memory for the film. What this in the end boils down to, is the weakness of the film having a large run time and a desire to enrapture realism, with only a selected few scenes to shift you forward in your seat. But for a large degree the script from Mark Boal keeps the film in a perfect blend of believable and dramatically entertaining, which pulls the film out of danger of dullness. But it can be appreciated that this feeling will not be universal, resulting in a slight Marmite film which asks its audience to observe mostly subtle (ironically for the topic matter) film, and to a degree is much alike Spotlight, ultra-realistic, with a sharp topic and stunning performances.

Verdict : 4/5

Verdict : A slow burner for sure, but has so much to offer with writing, acting and direction (in the order, first being the best). You don’t quite get the emotion for thrills of her previous work, but that is down to subject matter, not any lack of skill.

Quote : “I’m the motherfucker that found this place. Sir.”