Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for The Nice Guys, finally giving us a look at the next film from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 filmmaker Shane Black. Described by black as either a comedy with action or a thriller with jokes, the noir takes place in the 1970s Los Angeles and revolves around a down-on-his-luck private eye (Ryan Gosling) who must team up with a hired leg-breaker (Russell Crowe) to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star.

Watch the trailer for The Nice Guys below. The film also stars Kim Basinger, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, and Ty Simpkins and opens in theaters on May 20, 2016.


Shane Black absolutely wasn't kidding when he called this the spiritual sequel to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and boy was it a good call to make the first trailer a red-band. It has all the trappings and trademarks of what made Black's directorial debut so delightful -- the odd-couple leading duo, the seedy Los Angeles underworld lying just beneath the glitz and glam of Hollywood, the zippy dialogue, the profound acts of stupidity, the grammar humor, the moments of gruesome violence, and of course, the heavy noir influence. Hell, even though The Nice Guys leans hard into the aesthetic of its 1970s setting, it shares the vibrant, colorful palette of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. However, in an unusual move for Black's filmography, it does not appear to be set at Christmas.

And yet, and perhaps this is just because I'm a Shane Black loyalist, I have faith The Nice Guys will be its own movie entirely. I already like our leading characters, the trailer made me laugh out loud twice, and visually, it looks first rate. A couple of the comedic bits -- the bathroom stall gag, in particular -- didn't quite land, but that's nowhere near enough to prevent The Nice Guys from landing firmly in the upper ranks of my most anticipated films of 2016.

Here’s the synopsis for The Nice Guys:

“The Nice Guys” takes place in 1970s Los Angeles, when down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March (Gosling) and hired leg-breaker Jackson Healy (Crowe) must work together to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. During their investigation, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that reaches up to the highest circles of power.


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