Movie review
May 15, 2016 · 116 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The Nice Guys is a 2016 buddy action-comedy set in 1977 Los Angeles in which a bumbling private investigator (Ryan Gosling) and a tough enforcer (Russell Crowe) team up to solve the apparent suicide of a porn star and the disappearance of a teenage girl, uncovering a conspiracy tied to the auto industry. The core story follows their chaotic partnership, chases, and personal struggles amid 1970s sleaze and violence. A satirical subplot critiques corporate collusion to suppress catalytic converter technology for profit, but this remains secondary to the comedic buddy dynamic and does not drive identity-focused or activist messaging.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Nice Guys.
Woke representation / casting
Predominantly white cast fits the 1970s LA story world and period setting exactly; the young female character provides comedic support through smarts in a classic father-daughter dynamic without forced modern signaling, physical dominance, or mismatch.
Woke political dialogue
Limited expository lines explain the auto-industry emissions cover-up as plot payoff; these are satirical conspiracy reveals in historical context, not recurring activist-style lectures or modern political framing.
Identity-driven story themes
No central or visible race, gender-identity, or LGBTQ+ plotlines; story engine is buddy partnership and family comedy, with zero identity-politics messaging or wish-fulfillment arcs.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Central mystery satirizes 1970s corporate-government collusion on environmental rules for profit; this is generic rich-people-are-corrupt thriller trope and historical satire, not modern activist critique of capitalism, patriarchy, whiteness, or systemic identity issues.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant; fully original story with no source material, remakes, or canon alterations.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Complete absence of backlash claiming woke, activist, identity-political, or left-wing messaging; no "too woke," forced-diversity, or propaganda complaints surfaced in reviews or social media.
Creator track record context
Shane Black's established style of dark, misanthropic buddy action-comedy shows no relevant pattern of identity-driven or activist prior work; environmental element here serves story logic only.
Production
