Nice Guys, The (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Apr 03, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Shane BlackRelease Date(s)
2016 (February 11, 2025)Studio(s)
Warner Bros. Pictures/Silver Pictures/Waypoint (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: F
Review
The Nice Guys is an old-fashioned, neo-noir thriller through the lens of a buddy comedy, one that was a breath of fresh air when it was released in the spring of 2016. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a film that lit the box office on fire, but later found much more love on home video. It was mostly well-received by critics, but despite being a Shane Black joint, it criminally has yet to receive a sequel, which it’s most deserving of.
Taking place in 1970s Los Angeles, disheveled, alcoholic private investigator Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is hired to track down missing adult film star Misty Mountains, who’s dead. During his investigation, muscle-for-hire Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) is sent by a young woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley) to threaten March after the case leads him to her, and she gets scared. As it turns out, there are more people looking for Amelia, including a pair of thugs (Keith David and Beau Knapp), a contract killer (Matt Dohmer), and her mother Judith (Kim Basinger), who works for the Justice Department. With the help of March’s resourceful young daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), March and Healy form an unlikely alliance, hitting the streets of L.A. to locate Amelia and uncover some larger machinations. Also among the cast are Lois Smith, Yaya DaCosta, Murielle Telio, Gil Gerard, Jack Kilmer, Ty Simpkins, and the voice of Hannibal Buress.
Though Quentin Tarantino would go on to one-up the 1970s nostalgia game three years later in Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood (which also features Margaret Qualley), The Nice Guys is less about the world of the 1970s and uses it more of a backdrop to the story itself. You see plenty of vintage costumes, cars, electronics, and signage (as well as the classic Saul Bass black and red Warner Bros. logo at the outset), but it’s more to establish the time and setting. The draw is the chemistry between Crowe and Gosling, which is off the charts. They’re total opposites that somehow work well together, but because the film plays around with clichés, the young, less-experienced March is the alcoholic screw-up with the foul mouth, while the older, wiser Healy is the cleaner, more seasoned half of their rocky and reluctant partnership. They’re both broken people in their own way, but with Holly tagging along to help keep them on the straight and narrow, they somehow make for a successful team-up, even if their success is measured by their luck, or being in the right place at the right time, and not necessarily by using their combined skill sets.
The Nice Guys also offers shades of the surreal, with March falling asleep at the wheel and discovering an oversized bumblebee speaking to him from the backseat. Another moment, which goes unexplained, is when he sees a man with a Richard Nixon mask on underwater in swimming pool, and immediately swims away. These moments give off a Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas vibe, but never at the expense of the plot. The comedy is also of the witty variety. Nobody is really cracking jokes, but March and Healy find themselves in impossible situations and react ironically about it. It’s not quite as over-the-top as other Shane Black-penned projects like Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout, but it gets close. Performances are terrific all around, especially from young Angourie Rice and Margaret Qualley, both of whom have gone on to have busy careers.
Above all else, The Nice Guys is a throwback to not just the 1970s, but a time when buddy cop movies could be extremely good with the right script and the right cast. Crowe and Gosling are like peanut butter and chocolate on screen together. The story itself becomes a little convoluted along the way and it may take more than one viewing to suss out some of the finer details and connections, but even so, you’ll be whisked away by the camaraderie and chemistry between the three leads. Even with minor flaws, The Nice Guys is still one of the finest of its kind.
The Nice Guys was captured digitally by cinematographer Philippe Rousselot in the ARRIRAW (2.8K) and Redcode RAW (6K) codecs using a combination of Arri Alexa XT Plus and Red Epic Dragon cameras with Panavision E- and G-Series, Angenieux Optimo 2S, and Kowa Prominar lenses, finished as a 2K Digital Intermediate, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Warner Bros. brings the film to 4K Ultra HD for the first time upsampled from its 2K DI source, graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and presented on a dual-layered BD-66 disc. Since the film doesn’t necessarily require a larger capacity UHD disc as it’s taken directly from a 2K source with only a single audio and subtitle track option, as well as two brief extras, the picture doesn’t suffer for it. The Blu-ray was outstanding, and the UHD builds upon it with extra data muscle. Bitrates sit mostly between 60 and 80Mbps and detail is high, which the HDR grades very much improve. Nuances in the shadows are now more balanced with better contrast, and deep, rich hues in the palette. It’s not super dramatic, but it’s definitely noticeable. There doesn’t appear to be any issues with banding or pixelization, either. It’s clean with good definition.
Audio is included in a single English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio container with optional subtitles in English SDH. Despite the lack of a new Dolby Atmos track, which would probably do wonders for John Ottman’s and Daniel Buckley’s excellent score, the 5.1, which is the same track included on the previous Blu-ray, offers strong directionality and precise dialogue exchanges. Low end activity is frequent, as well, especially during some of the busier action and music-driven scenes. Some height on the soundtrack would open up key moments, especially the party scenes and moments during the finale when characters are above and below each other, but the 5.1 is still powerful.
Warner Bros. 4K Ultra HD release of The Nice Guys sits in a black Amaray case with an insert featuring the film’s traditional home video artwork, which re-purposes the original theatrical poster artwork. The following extras are included in HD:
- Always Bet on Black (5:27)
- Worst. Detectives. Ever. Making The Nice Guys (6:16)
The same brief EPK featurettes carry over from the Blu-ray, but with Second Sight Films cooking up their own UHD release of the film in the UK, we’ll see what they can do to improve upon this.
In truth, there’s nothing particularly original about The Nice Guys, but what it does, it does it well, and that’s all that matters. Warner Bros. budget 4K UHD release is a cheap alternative for those who want nothing more than great picture and sound, and for that, it definitely succeeds. In any case, if you’ve yet to see the film, drop everything and do so. It’s highly recommended.
- Tim Salmons
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