It’s 1977 in Los Angeles and enforcer Jackson Healey (Crowe) has a reasonable career in helping young girls keep creepy men away from them. But when he’s hired to intimidate loser-private-eye Holland March (Gosling), both quickly realise that they’re caught up in something far bigger – involving porn, violence, violent thugs, powerful people and a missing girl who knows a whole lot more than she’s telling.

Shane Black is only on his third film as director, but he’s already established himself as one of Hollywood’s most stylishly clever filmmakers. After a run as one of the ‘80s and ‘90s most bankable screenwriters (his previous work includes Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, and The Long Kiss Goodnight), he made an assured debut that also rehabilitated the career of Robert Downey Jr. with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. This is his long-awaited return to the crime genre which similarly manages to rehabilitate Russell Crowe after a run of fairly mediocre, grumpy performances in fairly dull films.

For this one, Crowe proves that he can, when required, still be likable and engaging, and therefore we can start calling him Australian again instead of insisting he’s actually a New Zealander. Gosling is hilarious as the out-of-his-depth private eye sidekick, as is Australian actress Angourie Rice as Gosling’s young daughter – all three are great at handling Black’s hilarious dialogue. While, yes, the film is a bit of a throwback and perhaps doesn’t create anything wildly original, it’s very solid entertainment and well worth the watch.