The Nice Guys (2016)

Directed by Shane Black
Written by Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi
Starring Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Angourie Rice and Margaret Qualley

A mismatched pair of Private Detectives investigate the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles. As they dig deeper they uncover a conspiracy that is bigger than they could've ever imagined.

Director Shane Black returns to his roots by following his second film, "Iron Man 3", with a detective oriented dark-comedy much like his first film "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".

As was expected, this film delivered many laugh-inducing moments. The writing and plot were just as expected. What was a bit of a surprise was the chemistry between Gosling and Crowe. Their banter and interactions with each other were flawless and very believable, even in the most ridiculous of moments.

While the story was impressive in itself, the set dressings and wardrobes to emulate the 70s seemed flawless. At least to myself. I never experienced the 70s in person. So maybe some of the more experienced viewers noticed some faults. However, I was never taken out of the story by an ill-timed prop or car.

This is one of the funniest films I have seen in a while. And I cannot praise the two headlining actors enough. They truly brought this film to life. It was a refreshing change to the typical cookie-cutter film…

I realize I used "cookie-cutter" in my last review as well. I apologize. But let's be honest. So many movies these days are similar, it's rare that you see two films that break from the norm in two days. I'm having a good week.

My Rating: 8/10

The Water Diviner (2014)

Directed by Russell Crowe
Written by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios
Starring Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Yilmaz Erdogan and Jai Courtney

An Australian man travels to Turkey after World War I to search for his  three sons who went missing during the Battle of Gallipoli.

In his feature length, narrative film directorial debut, Russell Crowe goes all in with this ambitious, large scale story. The passion behind this project is easily seen through every scene and is actually rather informative on the topic of World War I and the battles between Australian and Turkish (or Ottoman) soldiers.

Though the main storyline of a father searching for his sons is captivating enough, the writers decided to propel the story forward with the inclusion of a romantic interest. Despite their best efforts, the attempt to raise the stakes with the addition of a woman fell short and only proved to be a slow moving distraction and a campy side story.

The film was like a roller coaster of quality. It started off extremely strong, then fell to into dullness. The pattern repeated throughout, unfortunately ending with a boring, eye-roller of a scene. It was as though Russell Crowe and the writer's wanted to add too much story that was unnecessary and negated the emotional impact of prior sequences.

For his first film as a director, Russell Crowe could have done much worse. And his ambition will prove to be an important asset with his later films. As much as I like him as an actor, I feel he should stay out of his own movies or at the very least take a smaller role. I would imagine wearing two hats only hinders his potential.

My Rating: 6.5/10