The Nice Guys (2016)

On this week's Born to Watch, the boys dive headfirst into one of the great underappreciated modern buddy cop films with their "The Nice Guys" (2016) Review. Every so often, a newer movie sneaks into the sacred eighties and nineties space, demanding a full BTW breakdown, and this Shane Black masterpiece absolutely earns its spot.
With Russell Crowe as the grizzled enforcer Jackson Healy and Ryan Gosling delivering one of the funniest performances of his career as hopeless private eye Holland March, this film feels like it could have been made in 1987 and left on a dusty VHS shelf for us to rediscover.

Set in a grimy, neon-soaked 1977 Los Angeles, The Nice Guys blends noir, slapstick, mystery, porn conspiracies, corruption, and one of the great chemistry pairings of the last decade. As Whitey says, this flick is a chuckle fest. Not belly laughs all the way through, but constant, rolling moments of Gosling brilliance. From falling off balconies while holding a drink, to screaming in a toilet cubicle mid-assassination attempt, to the endless stream of quotable lines, Gosling proves he might be one of the most underrated comedic actors working today.

The episode kicks off with the BTW boys returning to their familiar chaos, discussing missed recording sessions, RSI from too much… research, yacht rock, power ballads, and the Black Sorrows ruining Gow's weekend. Once the dust settles, the team dives deep into first watches, overs and unders, cinema memories, and how this movie became a cult favourite despite its disappointing box-office returns. Whitey even reveals he attended one of those old radio promo premieres and laughed himself stupid the entire time.

Gow delivers a huge research effort, running through the Shane Black universe, returning stars Kim Basinger and Russell Crowe (who he argues could literally be Bud White 20 years later), and a brilliant breakdown of Gosling's Mickey Mouse Club origins, career breakout roles, and upcoming work in the new Star Wars project, Star Fighter. The boys also praise the incredible Angourie Rice, who holds her own with two Hollywood heavyweights and often steals the film.

They unpack the bad reviews (including one from a critic who somehow thinks Crowe and Gosling have no chemistry), explode with joy over the bowling alley toilet scene, analyse the poor neighbour shot by Blueface, and debate how on earth police didn’t arrive after John Boy unleashed the loudest gunfight in seventies LA history.

There is the usual dose of Snorbs Report chaos, including an award-winning muff dive scene from "Below Her Mouth", some questionable memories from Morgz in London, references to Buck Rogers, pool tugging, and a Rick's Leash callback that nearly kills the room again. The Spotify Wrapped thanks, the voicemail from the foreign correspondent, and the pure BTW banter make this episode an all-timer.

If you love this movie, you’ll love this episode. If you’ve never seen The Nice Guys, this will send you straight to your couch to fix that mistake.

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