The 10 Best Movies Like the Good Guys

The best movies, like The Nice Guys, contain not only hilarious comedy but also engrossing mysteries.

Movies like The Nice Guys draw on a long history of detective fiction, both novel and film. The Nice Guys director and co-writer Shane Black even wrote some of these films, so a search for similar films opens up a treasure trove of grim mystery.

Since Christmas is incorporated into many of Blake's stories, fans of his films often revisit these films around the holidays and then may want more. Fortunately, many of the best movies like The Nice Guys are available to stream on some of the biggest services.

The Long Goodbye (1973)

Available to stream on Tubi, Pluto TV, and Amazon Prime Video

Robert Altman's classic neo-noir is an influential detective story that should be considered a must-see for any fan of The Nice Guys. Elliott Gould's performance as the iconic private eye Philip Marlowe changed the film public's expectations of a ruthless detective, and he can be seen in many of Sean Black's roles.

While Marlowe's investigation of the deaths of multiple people, including an old friend, retains many of the grittiest elements of Raymond Chandler's original novel, it also injects his own dark sense of humor. Like The Nice Guys, it has a very unique That combination of toughness and vulnerability owes a lot to Gould's performance.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Available to stream on Showtime and Paramount+

Shane Black is best known to action movie fans for his many popular screenplays in the '80s and '90s, as well as his successful directing career that began with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in the 2000s.

Like Goodfellas, the film is a neo-noir detective comedy leaning most towards the comedy part of the equation, but not without faithfully adhering to the tenets of grim detective fiction. The murder mystery at the center of the story is riveting, and Blake made sure to include some of the shootouts that made his earlier scripts a hit. However, the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in the starring role was enough for Goodfellas fans to find it.

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Available to stream on Tubi

Shane Black's first two screenplays were the 1987 action blockbuster Lethal Weapon and the co-written horror-comedy The Monster Squad. While the latter failed to find audiences in theaters, the success of the former defined Blake as a name in the Hollywood action scene, and his second action film The script helped him hone his unique style.

The Last Boy Scout furthers Black's portrayal of the jaded detective and his more down-to-earth partner, Bruce Willis' ex-Secret Service agent-turned-cheesy detective, who serves as Elliott Gould's Marlowe and Bridge Between Ryan Gosling's Dutch Parade. The story of a far-reaching conspiracy surrounding a professional football player also brings viewers into a side of the L.A. entertainment industry not often seen in movies, as The Nice Guys did with pornography.

Lethal Weapon (1987)

Available to stream on AMC+

The original Lethal Weapon solidified many of the now-commonplace action movie tropes in Hollywood scripts. It also showcases many of Sean Black's best-loved quirks as a screenwriter, not the least of which is his choice to schedule his stories on or around Christmas, an experience that has grown through his career by kissing the stick. Sugar, Iron Man 3, and even The Nice Guys ending.

The murderous plot in Lethal Weapon is a little tougher than that in The Nice Guys, as the two LAPD officers at the center of the mystery - the iconic Riggs and Murtaugh - are more serious than Holland March and Jackson Healy . this is not It's not funny to say that this movie is because Mel Gibson and Danny Glover have fantastic chemistry that lights up every scene they're in. ^Don Cheadle and Brendan Gleeson are an odd pairing in this dark cop crime comedy from writer-director John Michael McDonagh. Cheadle plays an FBI agent searching for drug smugglers on Ireland's west coast, and Gleeson is a local police officer who is far from straightforward but vital to understanding the situation.

The Guard (2011)

Available to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video

Fans of The Nice Guys will appreciate the film's focus on witty back-and-forth dialogue and the story's bullet-like ending. The Guard may not have the glamor of '70s Hollywood, but it uses the natural beauty of its location to create a unique personality for the film.

Rush Hour allowed Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker to find a rare on-screen chemistry. That, in turn, allowed one of China's greatest movie stars to find a secure foothold in Western cinema, with sequels released in 2001 and 2007, and a fourth film in early development.

Rush Hour (1998)

Available to stream on Netflix and HBO Max

like in Nice Guys, these two seemingly mismatched detectives in the movie are on the trail of a missing girl and Bond as they discover that their unorthodox styles work when put together. It's one of the highest-rated cop comedies on IMDb, and the charisma of the film's two leads give it an irresistible energy that remains even after nearly 25 years.

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were another pair who also found the chemistry that spawned the sequel through the buddy formula, this time for the oldest-ever Two detectives, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Available to stream on Netflix and HBO Max

Director Guy Ritchie gave Sherlock Holmes a sense of scale and action, but the film's real star remains the wit in the dialogue. Fans of the banter and chaotic fights in this action-adventure blockbuster will love Holmes and Watson against a murderous mastermind who appears to have supernatural abilities.

Shane Black wrote and produced this action thriller about a woman with amnesia who, with the help of a private eye, discovers that she is actually A trained killer with ties to a deadly government conspiracy.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Available to stream on Showtime and Paramount+

Fans of The Nice Guys who saw the film for Shane Black's comedic style will be pleased with the film, as Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson add charm and humor to the story in the lead roles. But they also want to stick around and watch the action, because Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin isn't just a hodgepodge of cold action scenes from the movie.

Writer-director Rian Johnson reinvents the tone and vocabulary of this hard-boiled detective and applies them to a stylish high school murder mystery for his impressive directorial debut. In the original story, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's high school student investigates the murder of his ex-girlfriend, entering a violent world full of smart-ass criminals.

Brick (2005)

Available to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video

Although Piccolo is a dark film like The Good Guys, it still exudes a sense of humor, which Johnson later incorporated into his Wilderness films through dialogue and some physical comedy.

Jeff Bridges became a film icon with his portrayal of Jeffrey "Playboy" Jeffrey Lebowski in the Coen brothers' hilariously hilarious mistaken identity comedy Big Lebowski. The laid-back bowler becomes one of the funniest amateur detectives in movie history, stumbling through a kidnapping case with the lack of grace that makes Holland March such a likable character in "The Good Guy."

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Available to stream on Peacock

A highly inventive take on film noir structures and clichés, The Big Lebowski also has its own zany surreal dream sequences, but is largely similar to The Nice Guys due to its love of Los Angeles. The way it constructs and exploits the idiosyncrasies of this world-renowned city gives every scene of the film its incomparable charm.

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