Review: The Nice Guys BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE — 3.75/5

Note: This review contains spoilers.

The Nice Guys was probably one of my more anticipated non-superhero movies for 2016 given writer-director Shane Black hit a homerun with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (not so much in my book for Iron Man 3, however) and while I did enjoy the film, the plot did meander and at one point reminded me of Cars 2. That’s never a good thing.

The story is set in 1977 Los Angeles and focuses on two men. Holland March (RYAN GOSLING) is a detective turned private eye hired to prove that a porn actress, named Misty Mountains, is in fact alive despite the evidence suggesting otherwise. His investigation leads to another woman, Amelia, who apparently does not want to be found to the point she hires bruiser Jackson Healey (RUSSELL CROWE) who solves cases with his fists, to convince Holland to stop looking for her.

Amelia is even more popular than Healey imagined as she’s also being tracked by a couple thugs credited only as Older Guy (KEITH DAVID) and Blueface (BEAU KNAPP), threatening him for information on the woman’s location. So after barely escaping with his life, Healey seeks the help from March and soon enough they team up to uncover exactly what’s going on, a trail that leads to a swinging 1970s party at the home of a porn film producer to the involvement of the high ranking prosecutor for the Department of Justice, Judith Kutner (KIM BASINGER).

Quick Hit Review:
Although The Nice Guys wasn’t as good as I expected and the third act did dragged in spots, I did at least enjoy myself in particular for the bro chemistry that developed between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, both of whom exude their natural chemistry that make each of their characters work, even when, for Gosling’s March, is a tad inconsistent going from someone who is incompetent to perhaps one of the most perceptive PI’s around. Crowe for his part probably delivers one of his better performances in some time (though I did like his Jor-El in Man of Steel), but he seems to be in his element. Most of all for both, the comedic timing is fantastic thanks in large part to the script, written by Shane Black.

For writer/director Shane Black, The Nice Guys isn’t his strongest movie to date with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang still holding well many years later but I suspect this kind of movie just might garner fans in the same vein as this one failed to catch fire at the box office raking in a disappointing $36M. So while I didn’t think this was a particularly great movie as it was uneven in terms of the story, which again reminded me of Cars 2, I still found it wholly entertaining and often funny with its dark humor.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5

This release comes with a matted slip cover. Inside is a standard DVD Copy and redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

Features wise, we only get a couple simple featurettes:
Always Bet on Black (5:27; HD) – The cast and crew riff on the odd auteur, Shane Black.

Worst. Detectives. Ever.: Making The Nice Guys (6:16; HD) is a behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews by the cast and crew discussing the story and characters.

Previews – War Dogs, The Legend of Tarzan, The Conjuring 2, Batman: The Killing Joke

VIDEO – 4.5/5

AUDIO – 4.0/5

OVERALL – 3.25/5

Overall, The Nice Guys didn’t quite match my expectations but the laughs still were there and I did enjoy the bro chemistry that developed between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling to the point I was able to overlook a story that seemed to get stretched a bit too thin, especially going into the third act. It’s no Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but still well worth watching. The Blu-ray released through Warner is rather weak in terms of features although the video and audio transfers are both well done.