The Nice Guys - Blu-ray

Film: Los Angeles in the 1970s: Jackson Healey (Russel Crowe) is a man for the rough. If you want to send someone an unmistakable message, you hire Healy. Young Amelia (Margaret Qualley) hires him to get an alleged pursuer to leave her alone. That pursuer turns out to be private detective Holland March (Ryan Gosling), who got on Amelia's trail by investigating the case of porn queen Misty Mountain, who died in an accident. Suddenly, the two disparate men are entangled in the case and are forced to work together. The fact that March's pubescent daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) also gets involved in the investigation doesn't make things any easier, especially as the two get on the trail of a large-scale conspiracy that catapults them directly into the sights of a merciless professional killer.

After the huge success of Iron Man 3, director Shane Black is baking smaller rolls again with The Nice Guys. With the comedy he follows up thematically on his directorial debut Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The auteur of buddy cop classics like Lethal Weapon once again proves his flair for perfect screen duos and a coherent mix of comedy and action. When Russel Crowe and Ryan Gosling offer each other here a great verbal exchange after the next, when they are incidentally wild chases through Los Angeles or beat up bad guys, and when all this is then enriched with a completely bizarre dream sequence and a lot of black humor, then in the end a very big fun comes out of it.

It's nice that after the commercial success of Iron Man 3, Black has resumed the tongue-in-cheek ironic and not-always-quite-politically-correct tone that made Kiss Kiss Bang Bang so amusing, even if a more family-friendly production might have brought him a few more viewers. But by targeting a more adult audience, Black is also able to throw in some genuine moments of surprise in a very light-hearted way. This adds to the already high entertainment factor of the film. In the end, the whole thing doesn't quite reach the class of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. But a wonderfully quirky crime comedy and an amusing homage to the cinema of the 70s is the film all the same.

Thereby The Nice Guys lives over long stretches from the great interplay of the two main actors, who do not take themselves too seriously and obviously had a lot of fun while shooting. This is also transferred to the audience, which is animated again and again to hearty laughter. A cool soundtrack, a successful mix of action, wordplay and delightfully silly slapstick, as well as a 70s look interspersed with ironic winks help the film get over some small hangs. From time to time you get the feeling that not the whole potential of the story and the good actors was used. But even if there are some weaknesses and justified criticisms, the film is so much fun for long stretches that in the end a very positive overall picture remains.

If you have a soft spot for biting crime comedies, if you want to see Ryan Gosling make a real ass of himself and if you liked Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, you shouldn't miss this delightful retro fun. Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The Blu-ray's picture is absolutely clean and has good to very good overall sharpness at most moments, revealing little visible drop in quality even in darker scenes. The warm colors highlight the film's brilliantly retro look. So all in all, a very good overall impression prevails, which the sound can also leave behind. The DTS-HD MA mix is pleasantly lively even in the quieter moments of the story. In the dialogue scenes, the voices of the actors are transported well understandable from the speakers, quite a few sound effects and atmospheric ambient noises ensure that the surround channels are always in use. All in all, there is a more than satisfied for it: very good!

Extras: In the area of bonus material, the disc disappoints a little. The two featurettes on director Shane Black and the making of have a combined running time of just 11 minutes. One would have liked to see more. Because the six promo interviews (approx. 11:56 min.), which are still contained on the Disc, offer also not more, than the usual advertising gobbledygook. Weak!

Conclusion: The Nice Guys isn't quite as accomplished as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but due to the quirky humor and extremely good-humored cast, it's an accomplished crime comedy that no good collection should be without. That the bonus material has turned out a little disappointing, falls only little negative weight. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp