The Nice Guys

Director: Shane Black Shane Black

Overview

In 1970s Los Angeles, bumbling private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and muscle-for-hire Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) become unlikely partners when they find themselves both looking for a missing woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley) following the death of a high-profile porn star. Amelia's ties to the deceased actress are unclear, but as other members of the porn industry turn up dead, March and Healy's investigation reveals a much bigger conspiracy than the duo could have ever anticipated. With the help of March's teenage daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), their sleuthing eventually unearths corruption within the federal government. Shane Black (Iron Man 3) directed and co-wrote this action buddy comedy, which co-stars Kim Basinger and Matt Bomer.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/23/2016
UPC:	0883929530786
Original Release:	2016
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:56:00
Sales rank:	22,737

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Russell Crowe	Jackson Healy
Ryan Gosling	Holland March
Angourie Rice	Holly March
Matt Bomer	John Boy,Actor
Margaret Qualley	Amelia Kuttner
Yaya DaCosta	Tally
Keith David	Older Guy
Beau Knapp	Blueface
Lois Smith	Mrs. Glenn,Party Girl
Murielle Telio	Misty Mountains
Gil Gerard	Bergen Paulsen
Daisy Tahan	Jessica
Kim Basinger	Judith Kuttner
Jack Kilmer	Chet
Lance Valentine Butler	Kid on Bike
Ty Simpkins	Bobby
Cayla Brady	Young Beauty
Tammi Arender	Reporter
Rebecca Rusk	Fred's Widow
Terence Rosemore	Bourbon Bartender
John L. Morris	Peep Show Employee
Michelle Rivera	Medic
Nathaniel Scott	Medic
Amy Goddard	Nun
Joanne Spracklen	Healy's Ex-Wife
Greg Lindsay	Stand Up Comic
Maddie Compton	Janet
J. Todd Anderson	Smoker at Protest
Frank Mottek	Radio Annoucer,Radio Announcer
Nathan Scott	Medic
Meredith Berg	Die-In Protester
Lauren Marini	Die-In Protester
Ward Roberts	Die-In Protester
Ryan Powers	Die-In Protester
Lauren Bair	Die-In Protester
Zarah Kulczycki	Die-In Protester
Marvin Ross	Valet at Sid's
Adriana Karras	Party Girl
Milo Wesley	Pornookio
Marilyn Chen	Contortionist
Matthew Warzel	Bartender at Sid's
Jordan Hairston	Painted Girl
Angie Everhart	Bartender at Mermaid Bar
Josh Hoover	Dork
Yvonne Zima	Young Porn Queen
Lexi Johnson	Pocahontas
Chloe Hurst	Exotic Girl at Sid's
Gary Weeks	Officer McMillian
Charles Green	Dog Walker
Gary Wolf	Flight Deck Bartender
Hannibal Buress	Bumble
Steve Wilder	Perry the Lawyer
Garrett Carpenter	Buddy
Hank Quillen	Maintenance Man
Michael Beasley	Car Show Bartender
Dominic Bagarozzi	Paulsen-in Porn
Karrueche Tran	Tally-in Porn
Carson Meyer	Mexican Restaurant Bartender
John Ottman	Composer
David Buckley	Composer

Technical Credits

Shane Black

Anthony Bagarozzi

Shane Black	Screenwriter,Director
Anthony Bagarozzi	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Andrew Boswell	Executive Producer
Peter Hampden	Executive Producer
Ken Kao	Executive Producer
Michael J. Malone	Executive Producer
Norman Merry	Executive Producer
Hal Sadoff	Executive Producer
Alex Walton	Executive Producer
Joel Silver	Producer
Sarah Finn	Casting
Jackie Burch	Casting
James Harrison	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

"You're the world's worst detective," 13-year-old Holly March (a scene-stealing Angourie Rice) tells her sweet-natured but bumbling private-eye dad Holland March (Ryan Gosling) during a quirky and seemingly dead-end investigation in The Nice Guys, director Shane Black's uproariously entertaining slapstick riff on '70s pulp fiction. She's probably right, but she fails to mention that he's also one of the funniest. The mismatched pair of March and thug-for-hire Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) are the best buddy duo since Mel Gibson and Danny Glover traded barbs while blasting their way through Los Angeles in Lethal Weapon, which served as Black's Hollywood breakthrough nearly 30 years ago. The unlikely pair meet un-cute when Healy shows up at March's front door in a middle-class L.A. neighborhood, circa 1977, and breaks his arm to get him to quit a case. But before you can say, "let's boogie," the two are working together to find a missing young woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley) -- the daughter of a Department of Justice bigwig (Kim Basinger) -- who appeared in her boyfriend's porno flick. It seems everyone associated with the movie is being bumped off as a creepy hitman named John Boy (Matt Bomer) trawls the City of Angels to find the film (apparently, it contains more than just naked bodies). Soon, the tart one-liners are flying alongside the fists and bullets, as our polyester-wearing heroes pummel and shoot their way through Southern California's disco-obsessed and smog-encrusted underbelly to find Amelia and her suddenly hot bit of celluloid. Black, the Iron Man 3 helmer and one-time Tinseltown wunderkind who famously sold his spec script for 1996's The Long Kiss Goodnight for four million dollars (and then quickly fell out of favor when the movie tanked), is well-versed in pulp noir. He presents L.A. as an updated Sodom and Gomorrah where prostitution, pornography, and mobsters thrive, but thankfully, he never allows these elements to smother the story or the comedy; instead, they provide a rich backdrop for the silly but increasingly violent shenanigans that take place. The Nice Guys' smartly provocative script, co-written by Black and Anthony Bagarozzi, is filled with inventive gags that allow Crowe and Gosling to shine, as both men prove themselves to be gifted physical comedians. Crowe reportedly packed on 50 extra pounds for the role (he looks like a schlubby, low-rent bouncer), and he plays Healy as, yes, a nice guy, but one who isn't averse to giving a dirtbag a good-old-fashioned beatdown if the price is right. But it's Gosling who's the real revelation here. In one scene, March tumbles from a balcony during a Hollywood Hills bash and lands next to a freshly murdered corpse. The moment encourages Gosling to channel his inner Lou Costello (of the famed Abbott and Costello comedies of the 1940s and '50s): He's so frightened that he's unable to move or speak, and resorts to gasping, facial tics, and hilarious gestures to communicate his dilemma. It's a spot-on impersonation, and is only one of many inspired moments in a film carefully crafted to induce belly laughs. At another point during the topsy-turvy case, Healy mutters, "One thing we know for sure: something funny's going on." You can say that again.