Movies that feel likeThe Nice Guys (2016)

Name: The Nice Guys
Director: Shane Black
Genre: comedy, crime, action
Released: 2016

A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.

If you loved The Nice Guys, the closest films we have are Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Hot Fuzz (2007) and Starsky & Hutch (2004). All three share The Nice Guys' witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is SPL: Kill Zone (2005).

🍅 91% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Shane Blackwitty playful gritty kinetic paranoid atmospheric

10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Nice Guys hit the spot, these will too

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

2005 · dir. Shane Black

🍅 86%★ 7.4comedy · crime · mystery

Same director's wisecracking banter wrapped around a genuinely twisty case

The difference: Rougher, lower-budget riff on the formula before it was fully dialed in

A petty thief posing as an actor is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation along with his high school dream girl and a detective who's been training him for his upcoming role...

Hot Fuzz

2007 · dir. Edgar Wright

🍅 91%★ 7.8crime · action · comedyPeacock

Buddy-cop chemistry cracking wise while a real conspiracy unravels

The difference: Small-village satire in England, not sleazy 1970s LA noir

Former London constable Nicholas Angel finds it difficult to adapt to his new assignment in the sleepy British village of Sandford. Not only does he miss the excitement of the big city, but he also has a well-meaning oaf for a partner. However, when a series of grisly accidents rocks Sandford, Angel smells something rotten in the idyllic village.

Starsky & Hutch

2004 · dir. Todd Phillips

🍅 63%★ 6.1comedy · crime

Same period buddy-cop swagger, undercover work and era-perfect kitsch

The difference: Broader slapstick parody, less interested in an actual mystery

Join uptight David Starsky and laid-back Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson as they're paired for the first time as undercover cops. The new partners must overcome their differences to solve an important case with help from street informant Huggy Bear and persuasive criminal Reese Feldman.

Knives Out

2019 · dir. Rian Johnson

🍅 97%★ 7.9comedy · crime · mysteryRent or buy

A stacked whodunit that plays its murder mystery for real laughs

The difference: Drawing-room mansion mystery, not two boozy detectives loose in LA

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

2018 · dir. Stefano Sollima

🍅 62%★ 7.1action · crime · thrillerStarz

Same gritty, morally murky underworld simmering beneath the plot

The difference: Border cartel war played dead serious, no comic relief in sight

Agent Matt Graver teams up with operative Alejandro Gillick to prevent Mexican drug cartels from smuggling terrorists across the United States border.

SPL: Kill Zone

2005 · dir. Wilson Yip

🍅 80%★ 6.9action · crime · dramaPrime Video

Same neo-noir grime of cops and criminals circling in the dark

The difference: A straight-faced Hong Kong martial-arts thriller, no jokes at all

Chan, an articulate senior detective nearing the end of his career, is taking care of the daughter of a witness killed by ruthless crime lord Po. Martial arts expert Ma is set to take over as head of the crime unit, replacing Chan who wants an early retirement.

Miss Congeniality

2000 · dir. Donald Petrie

🍅 42%★ 6.4comedy · crime · actionMaxStarz

An investigation played for laughs by someone badly out of their depth

The difference: Fish-out-of-water pageant plot, no noir grime to speak of

When the local FBI office receives a letter from a terrorist known only as 'The Citizen', it's quickly determined that he's planning his next act at the Miss America beauty pageant. Because tough-as-nails Gracie Hart is the only female agent at the office, she's chosen to go undercover as the contestant from New Jersey.

Polar

2019 · dir. Jonas Åkerlund

🍅 20%★ 6.3action · crime · dramaNetflix

Common ground: neo-noir

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

When a retiring assassin realizes that he is the target of a hit, he winds up back in the game going head to head with a gang of younger, ruthless killers.

Pusher II

2004 · dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

🍅 100%★ 7.3action · crime · dramaPrime Video

Gritty where it counts, kinetic underneath

The difference: Trades the wit of The Nice Guys for an angle of its own

Tonny is released from prison - again. This time he has his mind set on changing his broken down life, but that is easier said than done.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

2014 · dir. Robert Rodriguez

🍅 43%★ 6.5action · crime · thrillerPrime VideoParamount+

Same hard-boiled detective-noir DNA, dialed up into stylized pulp

The difference: Stark graphic-novel violence, none of the buddy-comedy warmth

Some of Sin City's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.

Now You See Me

2013 · dir. Louis Leterrier

🍅 51%★ 7.2thriller · crimePrime Video

An investigation tangled in a conspiracy that outruns the investigators

The difference: Slick magician heist thriller, no period grime or buddy-cop banter

An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.

In Bruges

2008 · dir. Martin McDonagh

🍅 84%★ 7.9comedy · drama · crime

Both keep coming back to the same thing: neo-noir

The difference: Takes it somewhere less kinetic than The Nice Guys does

Ray and Ken, two hit men, are in Bruges, Belgium, waiting for their next mission. While they are there they have time to think and discuss their previous assignment. When the mission is revealed to Ken, it is not what he expected.