The Nice Guys – Second Sight Blu-ray Review

Shane Black’s The Nice Guys is probably one of the finest examples of a modern cult classic. Released in 2016 to strong reviews but disappointing box office, making $60 million from a $50 million budget. The film quietly earned a devoted following thanks to its pitch-perfect tone, razor-sharp writing, and endlessly watchable lead duo. Now, with Second Sight Films bringing their signature care and craftsmanship to a new limited edition release, the film is finally getting the treatment fans have long hoped for, and giving those who missed it a chance to love it too.

Set in a sleazy, sun-soaked 1977 Los Angeles, The Nice Guys follows two unlikely investigators forced into partnership: Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), a bruiser-for-hire with a code of ethics, and Holland March (Ryan Gosling), a barely-competent private eye and single father. When a missing girl and a dead porn star lead them into a murky web of corruption, the mismatched pair stumble, often hilariously, through an increasingly dangerous conspiracy.

Shane Black’s knack for mismatched duos and quick fire dialogue is on full display here. Probably best known for scripting Lethal Weapon and directing Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Black delivers his most confident work yet: a film that fuses noir plotting with screwball energy, drenched in period style and cynical wit.

Gosling gives a phenomenal performance as March. His physical comedy is spot on veering between slapstick and sincerity. Crowe, playing it straighter but no less effective, brings a quiet dignity to Healy that anchors the chaos. Their chemistry is effortless, giving the film a strange warmth beneath all the beatings and bullets.

But The Nice Guys isn’t just a comedy. Beneath its retro styling lies a dark satire of 1970s America, one fuelled by greed, industry, and the wilful erosion of truth. That Second Sight have chosen to revisit this film now feels fitting. What once seemed like a fun noir romp now plays like a sharper reflection of modern anxieties, wrapped in bell bottoms and brass knuckles.

The supporting cast is uniformly strong, most notably Angourie Rice, whose role as March’s daughter Holly brings heart and clear-headed intelligence to the film. She’s the moral compass in a world gone off the rails, and one of the most quietly powerful performances in the film.

Witty, violent, stylish, and oddly poignant, The Nice Guys is a rare modern film that gets better with each revisit. Its humour never undercuts its sincerity, and its plot, though wonderfully twisty, never loses its sense of purpose. It’s a film that knows exactly what it is, and that’s precisely why it works so well.

The extra features on this disc also shine.

The new audio commentary with Shane Black, Co-Writer Anthony Bagarozzi moderated by Writer Priscilla Page at times feels awkward, but it is filled with enough tidbits on the production and insights into the film that it just clips along nicely. 

Knights in Tarnished Armour: a new interview with Shane Black – This 35 minute interview is nicely shot. Black gives some lovely insight into the story, production and some nice general peeks behind the curtain of Hollywood. Really interesting to hear how much a small change of setting can help a project get off the ground. The great quality of the video and audio of this interview help elevate it.

Finding an Audience: a new interview with Co-Producer Ethan Erwin – Another well shot interview, this time following the Second Sight lineage of gradually shorter length extras as they go down the list. This one’s 22 minutes long, and just as well put together as you would expect. Ethan is quite animated and speaks at 100 words a minute. Some nice insight into various aspects of production, from funding to casting to filming.

A Thousand Cuts: a new interview with Director of Photography Philippe Rousselot – Does it follow the Second Sight law of ever decreasing time? Yep. 14 minutes with DoP Philippe. Nicely shot, this time seemingly in his house, this is an interesting interview. He discusses his thoughts on the film, what it was like working with Shane Black, shooting on digital and how changes in technology effect filmmaking. Really nice interview. 

From Lethal Weapons to Nice Guys: a video essay by Leigh Singer – The is one of those “talk through my thesis” extras that I’m not particularly a fan of, I think it may be due to the fact it reminds me of those educational videos they used to wheel the TV into the classroom for in school. To be fair, Leigh’s essay is quite well put together, interesting and the video clips surrounding the words are well put together. It didn’t change my mind on these video essays, but it was watchable enough. 

Always Bet on Black – 5 minute TV spot style, BTS/talking heads type extra. Nothing groundbreaking but a nice extra to have.

Making The Nice Guys: Worst. Detectives. Ever. – 6 minutes “making of”. Fairly standard short extra. Covers a lot of the same ground the other interviews and commentary does, but still a worthy addition.

Cast Interviews – 11 minutes of cast interviews. On set style interviews with Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, Margaret Qualley, Matt Bomer. These are good, and make you feel like we’re missing out on a cast audio commentary. 

Trailers – Yet again I’m let down that this is just adverts for the film and not a 5 minute look around the trailers of the cast and crew “cribs” style. Sort it out Second Sight! 

With this new release from Second Sight Films, The Nice Guys finally takes its rightful place among the prestige cult canon. For those who missed it the first time or for those who’ve been asking “Have you seen The Nice Guys?” ever since it’s time to embrace the chaos all over again.