has been watching some documentaries lately set in the Western Desert, and was inspired to create this...
(9.25)This is a detectives tale set in 1970s Los Angeles. Holland March (played by Ryan Gosling) is a down-on-his-luck, widowed, alcoholic private investigator hired to find porn star Misty Mountains, who everyone else thinks is dead. Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) is a freelance tough guy hired by Amelia (Margaret Qualley) to frighten off anyone following her. Which March is, since Amelia's car was seen leaving Misty's place!
Thus March and Healy start off as opponents, but are soon forced to team up to solve this mystery.
Other characters involved along the way are Holly March (Angourie Rice), Holland March's pre-teen daughter who helps keep him on track; Kim Basinger as Amelia's mother, who may or may not be using her law-enforcement position to cover up for crooked Detroit automakers; and a variety of hitmen and Hollywood types.
The movie is fast-paced and matches action with comedy. Given the 'porn movie' element, there are a lot of sexual references and some female topless nudity.
The actors mostly give fine performances, particularly Angourie as Holland. Ryan Gosling has the difficult job of playing Holland March, who is both tragic (an alcoholic) and funny (he keeps falling from heights); I had trouble believing him in the role (which may, in fact, be a script problem). Russell Crowe is charming as Healy, but doesn't seem tough enough for the role.
Can you game it? There's a wonderful scene of everyone fighting it out at the Los Angeles car show, chasing a rolling, bouncing film canister.
I thought the movie was good, but not great. Plenty of action, funny, you might like it.