The crackling energy that Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black brought to his two directorial efforts, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3, have us eagerly anticipating his next film, 1970s-set detective noir The Nice Guys. On top of Black’s involvement, we’re also excited by the fact that Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling have secured the lead roles of two unlikely partners who team up to solve unusual crimes. And today, our anticipation just grew again, with word that the talented Jack Kilmer has joined in a supporting role.
Kilmer, who landed on the map with his gripping performance in Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto, will play Chet, a young film projectionist who is a friend and confidante of Amelia (Margaret Qualley, HBO’s The Leftovers), the missing girl at the film’s center. He proves vital to a private eye named March (Gosling) and a hired leg-breaker named Healy (Crowe), two very different men who form an uneasy alliance while investigating Amelia’s disappearance and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star.
Kim Basinger plays a corrupt chief justice who’s in bed with the very criminals she’s meant to be bringing to justice, while Matt Bomer also has a supporting role. Keith David, Ty Simpkins, Beau Knapp, Yvonne Zima and Angourie Rice also play parts.
In addition to directing, Black penned the script for The Nice Guys working with Anthony Bagarozzi, so those hoping for a return to the same fast-paced chaos of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang may be in luck. We still have a while to wait until the film hits theaters, though – The Nice Guys is currently set to arrive on June 16th, 2016.
