It sounded like so much fun: a gumshoe tale set in the raucous ‘70s—with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, no less, and directed by Shane Black, who wrote Lethal Weapon. But the buddy cop genre has not aged well, at least not here. The situation—a couple of guys basically arguing for the length of the movie—is old, and the humor is simply too heavyhanded and formulaic, even for a spoof. Gosling is his usual adorable self: too bad we can’t just wish some of his lines away (and one or two of his drinking scenes). Crowe is likeable as the more stable older partner, but the times where he sits around feeling sorry for himself are simply out of character and totally random—where are they going with that? On the plus side, he makes a great tough (even at his current size), doing most of the heavy lifting while Gosling’s character preens in a different pin-striped suit in every scene. Kim Basinger is truly disappointing as the villainous Director of Defense (yes, you read correctly), in both her performance and her taut visage. Some elements of the movie were fun: the music, the cars, the old-L.A. setting and—most of all—the bellbottoms and jumpsuits.
Should You See It? Yes, if your expectations are low and you loved the ’70s.
Viewed at Chase Park Plaza Cinema