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‘The Nice Guys’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Rob Mahoney

March 24, 2026 · The Nice Guys (2016) · Action · Comedy · Crime · 1:29:33

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Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 13:15Ryan Gosling — Discusses Ryan Gosling as obviously in the running and how he benefited by showing his range across multiple genres, but doesn't give a definitive pick
Chris Ryan▶ 15:16Ryan Gosling — Praises Gosling's willingness to be vulnerable and take comedic risks that other young actors won't take, calling him 'your number one guy' of this generation
Rob Mahoney▶ 14:24Ryan Gosling — Emphasizes both Gosling's willingness to embarrass himself and Russell Crowe's essential counterweight performance, suggesting both benefited significantly

Would Roger Ebert Have Liked This Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 25:02Three and a half stars - Ebert would have loved Gosling and liked these goofy genre movies
Chris Ryan▶ 24:40Three stars - would have thought it was pretty convoluted

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 32:56the porn party scene
Chris Ryan▶ 32:58the porn party scene (though emphasizes the Chet kid scene as what makes the movie special)
Rob Mahoney▶ 31:26the porn party scene

Best Quote

Chris Ryan▶ 45:39Which one of you cock and balls? 20 bucks.

Butch's Girlfriend Award

Bill Simmons▶ 46:34Holly (the 13-year-old girl character) as a movie trope, though he likes the performance
Chris Ryan▶ 46:21Holly's presence in too many adventures, questioning if the movie would be better if she stayed home for half of them
Rob Mahoney▶ 47:12Kim Basinger - she's off register and sticks out in this mode/genre

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 50:22Had trouble finding what's aged the worst because the movie's aged really well and it's set in the 70s when it's supposed to age badly
Chris Ryan▶ 50:29The exterior shots of LA that were actually filmed in downtown Atlanta - you can tell the streets are too narrow or there's too much foliage in different places

Overacting Award

Bill Simmons▶ 51:48Margaret Qualley — Blue face dialing it up the whole time, and Qualley's monologue where she screams 'it's not a porn!'

Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Bill Simmons▶ 58:29Russell Crowe was the Shaquille O'Neal of actors

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 59:45Keith David — Says there are no casting what-ifs because the movie just came out, mentions Keith David as 'best that guy' and Bo Knapp as Blueface
Chris Ryan▶ 1:00:07Lois Smith — Lois Smith as the old lady with the Coke bottle glasses
Rob Mahoney▶ 1:00:16Beau Knapp — Bo Knapp doing Sacha Baron Cohen energy as Blueface

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:36Ty Simpkins — Lance Valentine (the little kid with the big dick) - only in one scene, perfect Dion performance

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:32Russell Crowe — Crowe for Rob personally; Gosling with this movie and La La Land; discusses various other Apex Mountains including Shane Black for Lethal Weapon 1, Keith David for The Thing, 1977 as greatest year
Chris Ryan▶ 1:03:07Ryan Gosling — Discusses whether Gosling has more cachet post-Barbie than after La La Land; agrees Shane Black's Apex Mountain is Lethal Weapon 1
Rob Mahoney▶ 1:02:32Russell Crowe — Russell Crowe for this movie

Hanks or Cruise

Bill Simmons▶ 1:06:07Tom Cruise — Cruise for John Boy role, Hanks for the lead role
Chris Ryan▶ 1:05:58Tom Hanks — Hanks for Holland March (Russell Crowe's character) at a different time in his life, like late 80s after Punchline
Rob Mahoney▶ 1:05:53Tom Cruise — Suggested Cruise in one of the supporting parts who shows up

Is This Movie Better With

Bill Simmons▶ 1:12:29Zane Lowe — Suggested Zane Lowe interviewing John Boy, then proposed combining Zane Lowe with Leo's Blood Diamond character
Chris Ryan▶ 1:12:32Zane Lowe — Performed an elaborate Zane Lowe impression interviewing John Boy about being named after a Walton character

Just One Oscar

Bill Simmons▶ 1:15:21Ryan Gosling — Gosling for Best Actor
Chris Ryan▶ 1:15:25Ryan Gosling — Agrees with Gosling for Best Actor, praising his reactions and delivery that make lines funnier than they would be on the page
Rob Mahoney▶ 1:15:50Ryan Gosling — Supports Gosling, highlighting how he sells every moment with winks and eyebrow raises when the character thinks he's being smart

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:17:53How long did the Nice Guys Agency keep going before Jackson Healy died of a massive heart attack?
Chris Ryan▶ 1:17:59Like two years later? Or how March gets his child taken away by protective services? Imminent.

Coach Finstock Life Lesson

Bill Simmons▶ 1:20:49Sometimes you just win
Rob Mahoney▶ 1:20:51Sometimes there's two ways to look at something

Best Double Feature

Bill Simmons▶ 1:21:31The Other Guys — The Nice Guys paired with The Other Guys - calling it 'Guys Night' or 'Nice Guys Night'
Chris Ryan▶ 1:21:06No Sudden Move — No Sudden Move (Steven Soderbergh movie with Don Cheadle) - pairing it with The Nice Guys because both are Detroit crime films
Rob Mahoney▶ 1:21:16Michael Clayton — Suggested drama-comedy pairing like Michael Clayton or The Pelican Brief - another corporate conspiracy movie. Found Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 'too easy'

Movies Referenced (74)

Blood Diamond (2006)

10 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney▶ 10:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Neighbors (2014)

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney▶ 22:54IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gladiator (2000)

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney, Chris Ryan▶ 57:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

La La Land (2016)

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Rob Mahoney▶ 9:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lethal Weapon (1987)

6 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 16:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney, Chris Ryan▶ 21:40IMDb ↗Lb ↗

They Live (1988)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:04:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Other Guys (2010)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:21:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

American History X (1998)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 10:22IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Barbie (2023)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 11:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Boogie Nights (1997)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 4:22IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Midnight Run (1988)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Rob Mahoney▶ 3:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (5)

Warren Beatty

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Heaven Can Wait▶ 14:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Anthony D. Syracuse

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 20:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bridget Jones

1 mentions · Rob Mahoney▶ 34:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sean Penn

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Mystic River, 21 Grams, Dead Man Walking▶ 45:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Steven Soderbergh

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Traffic▶ 1:21:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (61)

Ryan Gosling

24 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Rob Mahoney · Known for Blue Valentine, La La Land, Drive▶ 3:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Russell Crowe

19 mentions · Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney, Chris Ryan · Known for Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind▶ 6:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Keith David

12 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for They Live, Armageddon▶ 20:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Holly Hunter

9 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney · Known for Broadcast News▶ 29:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kim Basinger

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney, Chris Ryan · Known for L.A. Confidential, Batman▶ 47:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Margaret Qualley

7 mentions · Rob Mahoney, Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood▶ 17:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Reggie Jackson

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Rob Mahoney · Known for The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!▶ 28:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Wang Chung

5 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for To Live and Die in L.A., Deadpool▶ 1:02:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Zane Lowe

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 1:12:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Avery Brooks

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Big Hit, American History X▶ 52:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Demi Moore

3 mentions · Rob Mahoney, Bill Simmons · Known for Striptease, Indecent Proposal▶ 49:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Frances McDormand

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Fargo, Almost Famous▶ 48:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (7)

Shane Black

15 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney · Known for Predator, The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang▶ 16:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney▶ 24:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jackie Files

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 6:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Agatha Christie

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Brett Halliday

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang▶ 21:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Critical Role

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:17:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

William Goldman

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, The Princess Bride▶ 14:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Lotfi El Gorda

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Aquaman, Noah▶ 44:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗