The Nice Guys

I like Shane Black, we have similar tastes (lovable fuck-ups, detective stories, red phones, alcoholism, understated surrealism, novelty guns, scenes in diners, etc) so naturally I was stupid excited to see this for the last 2 years or however long it was ago I first got word. (I was watching a lot of White Collar at the time and stumbled upon the pre-production notes whilst creeping Matt Bomer's IMDB). While I still very much enjoyed this, perhaps all the anticipation is what left me a tad disappointed. I love that it follows a guy who gets by on 90% luck. It is very funny, and interesting, and as the momentum builds it does get a lot better; however there seemed to be an ingredient missing that is maybe why one of his similar films, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, is one of my absolute favorites, and The Nice Guys I may only watch a couple more times. I should add that the trailer was way too much of a spoiler, and regardless of me being personally a little let down, this is still better than most of the stuff being put out these days and it's a refreshing change of pace. I also like to think he always bring in Christmas so that all the films can sorta line up on that day, somewhere in time, possibly in different universes. so that Dec 25th is haunted by all of his characters at once, in layers.