This $50 million flop became a cult classic

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]The best comedy of the 21st century was a box office disaster. 10 years ago, The Nice Guys opened against Angry Birds and got absolutely crushed. Shane Black's 1970 set buddy comedy made just 63 million on a $50 budget. And by Hollywood math, that's a flop. But despite his poor performance at the box office, the movie has gone on to become one of the most beloved comedies of all time. And that's largely because of Ryan Gosling. His performance as Holland March is the best comedic turn by any actor in the last decade, maybe the last 20 years. His high-pitched shriek after getting his arm broken is absolute perfection.

[00:00:44]There's also a scene when he's on a toilet trying to balance a pointed gun and a lit cigarette while pulling up his pants kicking a stall door open. And it's such an incredible display of physical comedy. I love that he doesn't mind looking like a complete idiot. To show how committed Gosling was to getting the comedy right, Black says Gosling watched Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein one night and said he wanted to try that energy. He then performed a pitch-perfect Lou Costello impression. When Gosling's Holland March comes across Sid Shattuck's [music] dead body at the party, he's so terrified that his throat seizes up and he can only produce a strangled whisper instead of screaming [music] out.

[00:01:25]Gosling also has fantastic chemistry with the more grizzled Jackson Healy played by Russell Crowe. What's hilarious is that Crowe admitted that Gosling regularly made him break character on set because he was so funny. But for whatever reason, Ryan tickles my fancy and he can make me laugh at the drop of a hat. The Nice Guys flopped because Hollywood was already abandoning comedies. And despite what everyone thinks, Black says a sequel is a tough sell since the film didn't perform that well. But would he do it? Of course, he says.

[00:01:57]Boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo.