The Irony Starts at Eleven
First off, the truth: The Nice Guys is a movie based on an ironic foundation. Nearly every scene contains some sort of ironic element; look for it and you will find it. This foundation is laid in concrete in the opening when a young boy ogling a centerfold model posing provocatively actually crashes into his house in her car. That she is posed in a provocative way just before making the transformation from accident victim to cold, lifeless body only turns the irony up to eleven. From there it never stops.
Broken Glass
One of the most hysterically funny moments of ironic inversion occurs when a scene that everyone has watched take place hundreds of times before turns gruesome. If you have ever watched a character in a movie purposely put his fist through a pane of glass in order to open a locked door and wondered how come there’s no blood, this is the movie for you. All the blood you could ever want as both the ironic inversion and the red stuff just flows out unmercifully but unbelievably comically.
John Boy
The fearsome mob hit man in the movie is named John Boy. In the 1970’s, when the film is set, John Boy Walton was the name of perhaps the least hit-man-esque character on television, beloved by the millions who tuned in every week to listen to him say a personal goodnight to every single member of his quite large family at the close of every episode.
The Crazy Girl
Amelia is painted as delusional and crazy and just plain obsessed with an impossible conspiracy. Of course, she is going to be proven right or there would be no reason for her to be painted in this light which distills the revelation of most of it ironic jolt. The real irony is that while Amelia is ultimately proven right, she is also proven to be, well, a little crazy who only accidentally hit on the truth.
Dramatic Irony
The movie closes on a note of good, old-fashioned dramatic irony; the kind of irony where the audience has more information than the characters. Holland confidently predicts that "In five years, we’ll all be driving small electric cars from Japan. Mark my words." Once again, there is dual irony: the audience knows he was proven right...and wrong. Millions upon millions of viewers may well have a Toyota or Nissan or Mazda or Suzuki car parked out in the garage as they watch the film, but very few of those cars are likely powered by electricity. As of the year 2020, anyway.
