I'll admit that I am unfamiliar with most of Shane Black's original works, watching The Nice Guys made me want to go back and take a look at his earlier films. The characters were well written, even better cast, and fit well with the theme of the film. There was rare a dull moment, it seemed I was either enjoying the dark comedic tone, or getting engaged in the plot. While the first two thirds of the film seemed excellent, the writers set themselves up for a fantastic finish, but were unable to capitalize on that potential. The script seemed to suddenly turn very basic, with things "falling" into place almost too miraculously to be true. I never felt like I had truly been given an ending worthy of a classic detective story, but the fast pace of the film and humor was enough to make it very enjoyable.