The Nice Guys: 10 Reasons It's The Most Overrated Film Of The Year

Likely, the decision to ensure that the plot is made up of countless coincidences was made on purpose; writer/director Shane Black is a huge fan of pulp detective novels from the '30s, '40s and '50s, many of which relied on random coincidences to move the plot forwards, the hope being that the reader was so excited to find out what happened next that they wouldn't have time to scrutinise the plot.

There were elements of this in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, of course, but in that movie - one that is far more meta-inclined and (let's face it) intelligent than The Nice Guys - it was made clear as to what Black was going for. Here, the coincidences that propel the plot forward feel like exactly that: coincidences.

What are the odds that Holland March randomly tumbles down a hill and lands right next to a dead body? What about the opening scene, where a kid happens to look over a nudie magazine featuring the same woman who, moments later, smashes her car into his house? What are the chances that so many key events happen at the exact moment when our heroes arrive on the scene?

It isn't a clever commentary on noir movies as some have suggested, either - it feels more like lazy screenwriting, and I'm genuinely surprised that so many critics have given such a shoddy film such high notices when there are so many coincidences.