The Nice Guys

If you are after a comedy that actually makes you laugh out loud, The Nice Guys is available in Australia on Amazon Prime Video and Stan, and in the UK on MGM Plus Amazon Channel and BBC iPlayer right now. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. With 8,742 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Russell Crowe's performance alone is worth the time investment. Start it on Amazon Prime Video whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, The Nice Guys earns its spot. The Nice Guys gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy. The chemistry Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling bring to it does a lot of the heavy lifting. It hit screens in 2016. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and The Nice Guys holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-off curiosities. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

If you need a comedy that actually makes you laugh, The Nice Guys is a strong candidate. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Russell Crowe's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.