The Nice Guys: parents' guide
Best for ages 17 and up. Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, language and brief drug use.
A sharp, funny 1970s buddy-crime caper that's very much for adults and older teens. A hapless private eye and a hired enforcer, helped by the detective's 13-year-old daughter, dig into a porn actress's death and a missing young woman in Los Angeles. The porn-industry plot brings topless nudity, a brief clip of a sex scene and a wild party the girl sneaks into, alongside shootouts, a slit throat and a fatal fall shown in bloody detail. One count found nearly 80 f-words, and the dad drinks constantly. All of that puts it at 17.
What's in it
Violence
StrongFrequent shootouts and beatings: a man is shot, then clubbed with a shotgun, another is choked to death, a grenade incinerates someone, a slit throat's dying moments are shown, and a fall ends in a bloody splat. A girl is thrown through a window.
Language
StrongConstant strong language; one count found nearly 80 f-words, about 20 s-words and about 10 crude terms for male anatomy, plus retard and other insults. The 13-year-old swears at her father.
Sex and nudity
StrongA topless porn actress appears in a magazine and a film clip, a brief clip shows a couple having sex, and a party features nearly nude women. A boy finds the actress topless and bloodied after a crash. One review reports brief full frontal nudity.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
StrongOne lead drinks nearly nonstop, and his young daughter often drives because he's too drunk to. Adults smoke cigarettes and marijuana, sometimes around the girl, one review notes brief cocaine use, teen girls drink, and the other lead gets drunk in despair.
Scary or intense scenes
ModerateThe girl is repeatedly in danger from hit men and a would-be kidnapper, a decomposing corpse crashes onto a banquet table, and deaths come suddenly. Most of it is played for dark laughs.
Sensitive topics
- Addiction
Worth talking about
Holly often acts like the grown-up for her father. Talk about what a kid can do when an adult they depend on is drinking too much.
On our lists
Similar picks around 17+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, the MPA, movieguide.org. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.