There are few screenwriters in Hollywood who have the knack and flair for the action-comedy genre like Shane Black.
The premise wont come as much of a surprise to anyone familiar with their previous work together.
As one might expect from a consummate Hollywood screenwriter, Black answered some of our questions in prose.
What was the impetus to do a period piece set in the 70s?
Its like the guy trying to be James Bond.
But they inhabit the 70s because its a great time for crusaders, really.
You couldnt let your kids go there.
It was still this endgame destination for every American dreamer, [that] was LA.
But this sort of prom queen version of LA had decayed.
It had become this tattered version of itselfthe make-up was slipping.
It was like a prom queen with dementia stumbling around, still pretending that this was the ideal.
I thought that notion fit perfectly with our private eye concept.
1975, yeah, so I was probably 13 or 14, just starting high school.
Was that kid in the beginning meant to be you?
That kid who jacks off every night?
Yeah, that was me!
His whole world shifts in five minutes from the fantasy to the reality.
No, no, we were hand-in-hand the whole time.
That didnt really workit never canbut we batted out different versions of this over the years.
Thirteen years its been in the works and then it came together in three days.
Yeah, and theres something to be said about being the king of the midnight movie.
Oh, lets go seeKiss Kiss Bang Bangat midnight at the Aero or, Lets go seeLong Kiss Goodnight.
It would be nice if people lined up for the fucking thing in the first place.
Its great to have cult hits, but cult is not the way I want to go.
How did you go about finding an actress who can deliver that?
We said, The hell with it.
Whats a plane ticket?
Lets fly her in because this is a very important role.
Its weird, because shes a very shy kid in a way.
She is a very mild kid, very sweet and polite, but when she walked insomething about her.
Fuck, lets put this in the movie, this is great stuff!
The point is that you never see it.
I dont know what she did or how she channeled it.
Its easy to blow smoke.
What am I going to say about any actor in a movie?
But this kid is something special.
I was definitely impressed.
What about casting Ryan and Russell?
How did you know they could deliver that?
The bad guys were still scary.
Then theyll be funny.
If we pulled twoSNLalumni, theyd be funny, but I wanted real actors.
I wanted it to feel like a real story, organically real, then I could put jokes in.
Those were our first two picks by the way.
I was also curious about having Kim Basinger in this, ecause she previously appeared with Russell inL.A.
Did that have any influence on this, also being an LA period noir?
Honestly, she was just available.
It was kind of a neat revelation.
Oh, yeah, she knows Russell.
But no, it wasnt a factor at all in trying to reference other detective movies.
You dont always go for the most straight-forward jokes, but then theres also some slapstick stuff.
Ryan even does a Bud Abbott impression at one point in the movie.
Can you talk about some of your other influences for comedy?
You have to dole it out sparingly, and every once in a while, you go for broke.
Its like jugging on the street corner, and theyre throwing tomatoes at you.
Thats my favorite kind of filmmaking.
Its like you try something and you go, You know what?
Lets just do this.
Because its too funny not to do.
Alright, that worked, but lets try something different now.
Its not as measured as a philosophy of filmmaking.
Were trying to keep the show going in whatever way we can, and we kept changing it up.
CLICK and he goes, Youre crazy man, Ill tell you, Ill tell you!
And then, What the fuck did you just do?
So we did that inKiss Kiss.
Is that important to your process?
It is important to me, very important, but Ill tell you why.
Everyone is going to have an opinion.
I thought it would, but maybe it needs a beat.
Maybe it needs more air there.
Or maybe theyre not getting it.
Its really about just getting reactions, not getting creative input, if that makes any sense.
Are any of these things taken from real parties you attended?
No, these are the fantasy parties that I wish I had had in a way.
The whole thing is a fantasy.
LA is a corrupted town, especially in the 70s.
The parties represent the fantasy view of LA, the sort of irresponsible exuberant fairy tale.
I think, Okay, thats what is bad about LA, and I wouldnt want to go there.
I guess I see it a different way.
[Laughs] I see it as bad too, in a way.
Theyre fiddling while Rome burns.
I think that was a big element of people in the 70s, literally fiddling while the city burned.
Pretend it was still the end game destination for every American dreamer who wanted to be glamorous.
The glamor with the make-up was slipping.
How was that experience doing a movie with Marvel Studios?
Well, you go in knowing that theres a branded thing going on.
Yeah, I knew I wasnt going to be able to just do anything I wanted at Marvel.
That said, you still venture to keep a flavor and a degree of control.
When I would get frustrated was because there were so many moving parts.
Joss Whedon would come to mehe was working onAvengersand hed say, Look, just trust the machine.
Theyre here for a reason.
To this day, Im a huge fan of Marvel.
I think they get it right.
Like yhe Winter SoldierSebastian Stan in the latest moviehes tortured, hes tormented.
Its a tonal shift, and Kevin knows to do that.
He does that better than anybody.
Knowing that a movie doesnt have to have one single consistent tone to it throughout.
you’re free to shake it up, and have fun.
Or do you feel youve already said what you want to say in this realm?
I can do detective movies forever.
I dont know if theres a trilogy involved.
I probably can do another dozen of them.
Theres a noir to it, but were trying to event-izeThe Predatorand make it new and fresh again.
you’re free to read more about what Shane Black said aboutThe Predatorand hisDoc Savageproject in developmentright here.
In the meantime,The Nice Guysopens nationwide on Friday, May 20.
