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Mel Gibson and
Danny Glover
“I’m getting too old for this
sh...” Much copied and spoofed,
Lethal Weapon
’s Riggs and
Murtaugh remain one of cinemas
most memorable double acts, even
if they did end up overstaying their
welcome.
BruceWillis and
DamonWayans
Although not one of Black’s
happiest Hollywood experiences
– his original script for
The Last
Boy Scout
was apparently much
darker – Willis and Wayans spark
off each quite nicely all the same.
Robert Downey Jr. and
Val Kilmer
A comeback film for both Black
and Downey Jr.,
Kiss Kiss Bang
Bang
is also arguably the writer-
director’s best work. It certainly
boasts the oddest of his odd
couples: Downey Jr. is a struggling
actor, while Kilmer plays a gay
private eye.
BLACK’S
BEST
BUDDIES
S
hane Black is happy to admit that
buddy films are his bread and
butter. After all, he pretty much
designed the template for the genre with
Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the
Lethal
Weapon
series, and has just created
another memorable double act in Russell
Crowe and Ryan Gosling in the comedy-
thriller
The Nice Guys
.
But perhaps what is surprising is the
inspiration for his own buddy films. “I saw
a movie that Ron Howard did called
Night
Shift
, back in the 80s,” he recalls. “It was
sold as a silly comedy, but I went to see
it and I was surprised by this really kind
of soulful and heartfelt relationship. And
I thought, wow, isn’t that something that
within the context of being that funny, you
can actually tell an organic, real story.”
In
The Nice Guys
, Crowe plays an
enforcer who teams up with a small-time
private eye (Gosling) to solve a mystery
involving a missing young woman, the
death of a porn star, and a high level
corporate conspiracy. However, unlike
most of Black’s previous buddy flicks, this
one has a retro setting, with the action
unfolding in the seamy Los Angeles of the
1970s.
To Black, the era provided the perfect
backdrop for his tale of corruption and
murder. While Los Angeles was still a
destination for dreamers, he says that by
the ‘70s the city wasn’t in particularly good
shape: the Hollywood sign was crumbling,
the famous Sunset Strip was a haven for
sleaze and prostitution, and the smog
was so bad that there were air raid sirens
telling children to go inside because it
wasn’t safe to play outdoors.
“It was still maintaining this illusion
of glamour and luxuriousness,” the
writer-director adds. “I thought it was a
perfect setting for a detective story.”
Although played mainly for laughs,
Black was nevertheless conscious
that the film also had to work as a
suspenseful thriller. “You’ve got to
keep that first and foremost,” he
maintains. “Make sure there’s a strong
mystery thriller and then let these guys
just tear it to shreds and deconstruct it,
and be very funny.”
His two stars certainly don’t disappoint
on that front and Black was impressed
with the way both Crowe and Gosling
embraced the wisecracks and the more
slapstick elements of the movie: “Ryan
was particularly willing to just fling himself
off from stuff onto other stuff,” he adds.
That said, it’s the odd couple
relationship between the two leads that
makes
The Nice Guys
such a joy – and
that’s why Black remains so fond of the
buddy genre.
“The buddy movie is just about
people,” he says. “There’s a certain
aspect I love about movies where people
are kind of down-trodden, they’ve sort
of given up. Someone else has to come
long and believe in them when they don’t.
And that kind of simple idea is infinitely
variable. I felt listening to the banter these
guys do back and forth, the throwaway
stuff, the deadpan stuff…I could do that
the rest of my life.”
Make sure there's a strong
mystery thriller and then let
these guys just tear it to shreds
continued
•
The Nice
Guys
is out now on
DVD and Blu-ray