I have never seen an actor resist Hollywood stardom more stubbornly than Ryan Gosling. Three years after his 2001 breakout performance as a Jewish skinhead in Henry Bean’s incendiary “The Believer,” (for which he should’ve been nominated for an Academy Award), he was transformed into a big-screen heartthrob via his portrayal of Noah Calhoun in Nick Cassavetes’ “The Notebook.” Gosling could’ve dined out on hunky leading men roles for the next decade, but, over the next few years, he chose instead to play a freebasing high school teacher in “Half Nelson,” a self-destructive husband in the soul-hollowing “Blue Valentine” and an emotionally remote getaway driver in “Drive.” “Crazy, Stupid, Love” was a bright box-office spot, but it wasn’t the showcase he needed. If he wanted to be a star. Which, in 2011, seemed to be in question.
In 2016, Gosling made a play to become a star on his own off-kilter terms as alcoholic private detective Holland March in Shane Black’s “The Nice Guys.” The legendary screenwriter behind “Lethal Weapon,” “The Last Boy Scout” and “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” cooked up an elegantly seared filet mignon for Gosling, and he savored every moment. “The Nice Guys,” which pairs Gosling with an over-it Russell Crowe (as a Yoo-hoo swilling enforcer) is an audience movie, but the audience, for whatever reason, didn’t show up in 2016.
28 days after “The Nice Guys” went live on Apple TV, it’s now the service’s most watched movie. I’m thrilled that more people are discovering this shaggy detective classic 10 years after its release, but under Ellison’s Skydance rule, Warner Bros. isn’t trying to resuscitate commercial misfires. This is it. That said, it’s got more going on in its 116 minutes than the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe oeuvre.
The Nice Guys: Ryan Gosling’s franchise that never was
I read “The Nice Guys” when it was pitched as a network television pilot by Black and Anthony Bagarozzi (one of these men had the pleasure of watching a stray kitten urinate on my lap). It was sharp, hilarious and fertile ground for a series – if the writers could get around CBS’ standards and practices. Not since “The Monster Squad” had Black written with such ease and eloquence at a PG-ish level.
When “The Nice Guys” got greenlit as a film, producer Joel Silver starred it up with Gosling and Crowe. The idea seemed to be that Crowe, a major movie star and Academy Award-winner, would play straight man to Gosling’s goofball PI, and the film would sell itself. This just didn’t happen. Set in the late 1970s, Black’s stumblebum neo-noir is a skillfully plotted romp that finds Gosling and Crowe trying to piece together the disappearance of anti-pollution activist Amelia Kuttner (Margaret Qualley).
Gosling is dopey perfection as Holland March, a single father who’s battling against a boozy haze to solve a case that could save his profession and his life. He’s funny and heartbreaking in this role. As is Black’s wont, you’re left with a wacky, whimsically moralistic Donald Westlake riff with blockbuster trimmings. Gosling and Crowe are scrambling to take down men who abuse women. Spoiler: they get their dastardly dudes, and you’ll shed tears along the way.
I’m thrilled that Gosling is now an A-lister making films for Lucasfilm, and he was wonderful in “Project Hail Mary,” but we’ve yet to see his best. I just want to watch him blossom.