The shag carpets were set for The Nice Guys premiere Tuesday evening at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
The buddy comedy film features a star-studded cast led by Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling.
“There’s a long history of great detective stories and that’s what this is,” Crowe told The Hollywood Reporter. “And as funny as it may be, there’s a real density to the narrative and there’s very much a story to follow, so I think that’s what people are also getting into it as well. It keeps you guessing.”
The Nice Guys is set in Los Angeles during the ‘70s where the unlikely duo — private detective Holland March (Gosling) and hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Crowe) — join together in search of a missing girl who is also linked to the death of porn star Misty Mountain.
Director Shane Black mentioned how fun it was to film with Gosling and Crowe. At times, maybe too much fun.
“I’ve been on sets where the two guys didn’t like each other very much,” said Black. “That’s a terrible situation and this was not that. The problem was, if any, was that they were ruining takes because they would make each other laugh and they were sadistic about it.”
He continued: “We’d be screaming, ‘Not tonight guys, come on, we’re losing the light! We blocked off the entire street, please not tonight.’ And that of course just made them do it more and crack each other up even more. But, you know, it’s fun to watch.”
Black isn’t the only one who found it hard to stay on track: Gosling added, “We had to seriously hold it together.”
Matt Bomer talked about playing the film’s villain, an assassin named John Boy, saying, “He is the guy you call to get the job done. He [is] a very slick, efficient killer, but when he meets Healy and March, being the out-of-box individuals they are, they’re a hard duo to prepare for, so he has a little bit of a hard time with them.”
He added: “I’m definitely the least nice guy in the movie.”
A big discussion of the evening was how audiences would react to the film, which doesn’t incorporate CGI effects or capes, a trend that dominates the summer box office.
“There [is an] incredibly cool soundtrack and some great old school stunts and cars going through buildings and things like that,” Crowe said. “You’re used to seeing CGI stunts, but when an actual car crushes through a house, it’s quite brutal and it makes for great cinema.” He then joined the rest of the cast for a group photo.
The Nice Guys hits theaters May 20.
