Jack and I laughed long and hard at this violent farce about an odd couple of crooked private eyes in 1977 Los Angeles who join up to find a missing girl. With spot-on acting by Ryan Gosling (last blogged in The Big Short) and Russell Crowe (most recently in Noah), it has terrific production values and a soundtrack that doesn't quit (more on that in a moment). In supporting roles we have a botox-ed Kim Basinger (won an Oscar for L.A. Confidential (1997) in which she co-starred with Crowe; I also liked her a lot in Never Say Never Again (1983), The Man Who Loved Women (1983), The Natural (1984), Fool for Love (1985), 9½ Weeks (1986), Blind Date (1987), My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988), Batman (1989), Cool World (1992), Ready to Wear (1994), 8 Mile (2002), The Door in the Floor (2004), and Cellular (2004)), Margaret Qualley as the missing girl and Jack Kilmer in a cameo (they are offspring of Andie MacDowell and Val Kilmer respectively, and both appeared in Palo Alto).
Director/co-writer Shane Black (last helmed Iron Man 3) is no stranger to action pictures but he works well without sci-fi in this case from the script co-written with Anthony Bagarozzi (his debut; however, he has three upcoming projects).
Some of the movie was shot in Atlanta, but most of it used actual LA locations and the geography seemed right to me, other than one driving scene where they put the Roxy east of Tower Records (it was a couple of blocks west--I lived near there from 1982-2001) on the Sunset Strip. There are a few slight anachronisms, including the use of 911, but they won't detract from your enjoyment.
A five minute preview of the score by John Ottman (most recently scored X-Men: Days of Future Past) and David Buckley (worked on The Brothers Grimsby) can be streamed from this link, but what you're likely to remember are the wonderful 1970s songs, listed here and available for preview here.
We're in complete agreement with Rotten Tomatoes, whose critics average 90% and audiences 82, and recommend this for those who can stomach the gore.
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