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* MagnificentBastard (includes ''Literature/WhiteJazz''): [[ByronicHero Edmond Jennings "Ed" Exley]] is an {{opportunistic|Bastard}} but [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned]] young policeman and the only intellectual rival to the vile Dudley Smith in the Los Angeles Police Department. Coming up with a lie to paint himself as a war hero, Ed quickly rises as a cop thanks to his brilliance and wealthy father Preston's backing, exposing a racist beating of minority inmates by writing a version of events that depicts Ed as the most moral of his colleagues. Later promoted to Captain, Ed [[HardboiledDetective overcomes]] the manipulations of Dudley and his own disgruntled lover to uncover the truth behind the Nite Owl massacre, leveraging a successful reopening of it and being promoted to Chief of Detectives, even as Preston kills himself in shame at Ed threatening to expose his father's deceitful past. As Chief, Ed [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ruthlessly schemes to clean up]] the department by exposing the corrupt Narcotics officers to the investigating FBI agents, turning a crooked officer into his [[ProxyWar pawn in the plot]]. Ed also turns another young officer into a mole to use against Dudley, eventually taking his evil rival down, even with the death of his mole, and later moves into politics while [[TheDeterminator continuing to devote himself]] to absolute justice.
to:
* MagnificentBastard (includes ''Literature/WhiteJazz''): [[ByronicHero Edmond Jennings "Ed" Exley]] is an {{opportunistic|Bastard}} but [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned]] young policeman and the only intellectual rival to the vile Dudley Smith in the Los Angeles Police Department.LAPD. Coming up with a lie to paint himself as a war hero, Ed quickly rises as a cop thanks to his brilliance and wealthy father Preston's backing, exposing a racist beating of minority inmates by writing a version of events that depicts Ed as the most moral of his colleagues. Later promoted to Captain, Ed [[HardboiledDetective overcomes]] the manipulations of Dudley and his own disgruntled lover to uncover the truth behind the Nite Owl massacre, leveraging a successful reopening of it and being promoted to Chief of Detectives, even as Preston kills himself in shame at Ed threatening to expose his father's deceitful past. As Chief, Ed [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ruthlessly schemes to clean up]] the department by exposing the corrupt Narcotics officers to the investigating FBI agents, turning a crooked officer into his [[ProxyWar pawn in the plot]]. Ed also turns another young officer into a mole to use against Dudley, eventually taking his evil rival down, even with the death of his mole, and later moves into politics while [[TheDeterminator continuing to devote himself]] to absolute justice.
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!!From the book:
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* TheWoobie: Matt Reynolds. Unless you think smoking a little pot should result in being set up for the "Movie Premiere Pot Bust," [[spoiler:having your career and life destroyed, then being exploited by the very guys who did it to you, which then results in your murder.]]
!!From the film:
* AlasPoorScrappy: Sid Hudgens is despicable, especially his setting up Reynolds to blackmail Loew, but the way [[spoiler: Dudley]] double-crosses and then shoots him point-blank? You can't help but feel a little bad for the guy.
* AwardSnub:
** Often held up as one for its Best Picture loss to ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s.
** Likewise, Creator/RussellCrowe, Creator/GuyPearce, and Creator/KevinSpacey all failed to even earn nominations in the acting categories (the former two likely due to still being relatively unknown at the time).
** This film did one-up ''Titanic'' by beating it to the Library of Congress' UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry.
* CompleteMonster:
** [[spoiler:[[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] is a [[AWolfInSheepsClothing disarmingly friendly]] policeman whose [[FauxAffablyEvil manner]] belies his utterly corrupt nature. Aiming to [[DiabolicalMastermind consolidate control of all criminal activity in Los Angeles]] after the fall of gangster Mickey Cohen leaves a power vacuum behind, Dudley steadily chases away or kills all criminal opposition in the city. When his underling, crooked cop Dick Stensland, attempts to sell stolen heroin behind his back, Dudley has the Nite Owl diner shot up, killing innocent civilians alongside Stensland. Framing a trio of criminals for the crime, [[FramingTheGuiltyParty knowing their history as rapists]] will allow him to evade scrutiny, Dudley tries to have them killed while [[PoliceBrutality accusing them of resisting arrest]]. When the arrival of other cops on the scene first undermines his plot, Dudley orchestrates the criminals escaping from captivity, having them killed by Edmund Exley, a young cop trying to do good who [[ManipulativeBastard looks up to him]]. Swiftly murdering any officers who discover his criminal empire, when Dudley is nearly exposed, he merely kills off all of his business partners to tie up loose ends and tries to [[TheCorrupter corrupt]] Edmund into joining him after all of his men are killed in a shootout to restart his organization anew.]]
** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Pierce Morehouse Patchett]] is a [[SmugSnake sleazy]] businessman trying to take over Los Angeles crime with [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. Running Fleur-de-Lis using [[HighClassCallGirl high-class call girls]] given surgery to resemble famous actresses, Patchett assists [[spoiler:Dudley]] in eliminating Dick Stensland by having a call girl date Stensland and lure him to the cafe for both to be killed along with four other innocents. {{Blackmail}}ing politicians and regularly murdering rival criminals, Patchett orders a call girl dating officer Bud White to to seduce the investigating Edmund Exley in the hopes Bud will kill Edmund for he and [[spoiler:Dudley]] to evade any chance of being caught, and casually murders a young actor for [[HeKnowsTooMuch overhearing their plans]].
%%* EvilIsCool: [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. He's a badass old man and a MagnificentBastard ''combined''.
* FridgeBrilliance: On the making-of featurette on the DVD, Creator/RussellCrowe laments that he only had one scene with Creator/KevinSpacey, before concluding that Bud White doesn't like Jack Vincennes. Naturally, an old-fashioned police officer like Bud would loathe someone like Jack, whom he sees as a self-serving {{glory hound}}, while Jack would have little time for Bud, whom he'd dismiss as a thuggish brute. Hence why they only interact once in the whole movie.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Vincennes' scenes with Matt Reynolds are pretty hard to take after it was revealed that Creator/KevinSpacey had a long history of molesting young male actors. Even worse is that a large part of the film which Jack Vincennes is involved in is a subplot about Ron Rifkin's character molesting young actors. In his introduction scene, Vincennes [[BadassBoast boasts]] "America isn't ready for the ''real'' me!" which aged poorly in light of Spacey's scandal.
** Bud’s murder of Inez Soto's rapist, an unarmed black man, and Bud trying to frame the situation as “self-defense” by planting a gun next to his corpse is meant to be uncomfortable but given the recent issues of PoliceBrutality during the 2010s and 2020, it’s even more uncomfortable. Plus the line about the public not caring if black men with records getting killed is also this when you think about the times the police use previous felonies of the victims to justify their murders.
* HilariousInHindsight: ''Film/TheNiceGuys'' brought Creator/RussellCrowe and Creator/KimBasinger together again, and in a story set in Los Angeles to boot!
* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:[[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] is a [[FauxAffablyEvil charming and witty]] but utterly corrupt police officer. Aiming to [[DiabolicalMastermind take control of all criminal activity]] after the fall of Mickey Cohen leaves behind a power vacuum, Dudley kills or chases away rival criminal opposition in the city. When his corrupt officer underling Dick Stensland goes behind his back in an attempt to sell stolen heroin, Dudley has Stensland shot in a public diner to mask the killing. [[FramingTheGuiltyParty Framing a trio of rapist criminals]] for the massacre, Dudley attempts to have the rapists killed during arrest to avoid them talking. Even when the criminals are instead arrested, Dudley [[CrazyPrepared manages to orchestrate their escape]] to have them killed by well-meaning Lieutenant Edmund Exley. Manipulating the entire police department, when the heroic officers begin closing in on him, Dudley has Edmund photographed sleeping with officer Bud White's girlfriend in an attempt to [[LetsYouAndHimFight have Bud kill Edmund]] and begins murdering his own criminal business partners to tie up loose ends. When Edmund holds him at gunpoint, Dudley [[NervesOfSteel faces him with no fear]] and when Edmund stays his hand, simply tries to talk Edmund into [[WeCanRuleTogether joining him]] as he restarts his criminal empire, coming within an inch of victory and embodying both the charm and corruption that a police badge can conceal]].
%%* OneTrueThreesome: Bud/Lynn/Ed.
* RootingForTheEmpire: [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. He is evil, but not as depraved as his book counterpart. In fact, [[PayEvilUntoEvil most of his victims in his film counterpart are criminals, corrupt cops or other scumbags]]. Besides this, he doesn't have any really disgusting crimes like rape or infanticide. EvilIsCool aside, Dudley Smith framing a trio of rapist criminals for the massacre, ordering them killed during the arrest by his associates to make sure they won't talk is an act one can hardly call evil.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. Even though they both have a completely different cast and crew, both are set in Los Angeles, both were made 40 years after the time period in which they are set, and both feature themes of betrayal, corruption of public institutions and officials, and "neo-noir" values. Oh, and both have scores by Music/JerryGoldsmith.
----
!!From the film:
* AlasPoorScrappy: Sid Hudgens is despicable, especially his setting up Reynolds to blackmail Loew, but the way [[spoiler: Dudley]] double-crosses and then shoots him point-blank? You can't help but feel a little bad for the guy.
* AwardSnub:
** Often held up as one for its Best Picture loss to ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s.
** Likewise, Creator/RussellCrowe, Creator/GuyPearce, and Creator/KevinSpacey all failed to even earn nominations in the acting categories (the former two likely due to still being relatively unknown at the time).
** This film did one-up ''Titanic'' by beating it to the Library of Congress' UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry.
* CompleteMonster:
** [[spoiler:[[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] is a [[AWolfInSheepsClothing disarmingly friendly]] policeman whose [[FauxAffablyEvil manner]] belies his utterly corrupt nature. Aiming to [[DiabolicalMastermind consolidate control of all criminal activity in Los Angeles]] after the fall of gangster Mickey Cohen leaves a power vacuum behind, Dudley steadily chases away or kills all criminal opposition in the city. When his underling, crooked cop Dick Stensland, attempts to sell stolen heroin behind his back, Dudley has the Nite Owl diner shot up, killing innocent civilians alongside Stensland. Framing a trio of criminals for the crime, [[FramingTheGuiltyParty knowing their history as rapists]] will allow him to evade scrutiny, Dudley tries to have them killed while [[PoliceBrutality accusing them of resisting arrest]]. When the arrival of other cops on the scene first undermines his plot, Dudley orchestrates the criminals escaping from captivity, having them killed by Edmund Exley, a young cop trying to do good who [[ManipulativeBastard looks up to him]]. Swiftly murdering any officers who discover his criminal empire, when Dudley is nearly exposed, he merely kills off all of his business partners to tie up loose ends and tries to [[TheCorrupter corrupt]] Edmund into joining him after all of his men are killed in a shootout to restart his organization anew.]]
** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Pierce Morehouse Patchett]] is a [[SmugSnake sleazy]] businessman trying to take over Los Angeles crime with [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. Running Fleur-de-Lis using [[HighClassCallGirl high-class call girls]] given surgery to resemble famous actresses, Patchett assists [[spoiler:Dudley]] in eliminating Dick Stensland by having a call girl date Stensland and lure him to the cafe for both to be killed along with four other innocents. {{Blackmail}}ing politicians and regularly murdering rival criminals, Patchett orders a call girl dating officer Bud White to to seduce the investigating Edmund Exley in the hopes Bud will kill Edmund for he and [[spoiler:Dudley]] to evade any chance of being caught, and casually murders a young actor for [[HeKnowsTooMuch overhearing their plans]].
%%* EvilIsCool: [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. He's a badass old man and a MagnificentBastard ''combined''.
* FridgeBrilliance: On the making-of featurette on the DVD, Creator/RussellCrowe laments that he only had one scene with Creator/KevinSpacey, before concluding that Bud White doesn't like Jack Vincennes. Naturally, an old-fashioned police officer like Bud would loathe someone like Jack, whom he sees as a self-serving {{glory hound}}, while Jack would have little time for Bud, whom he'd dismiss as a thuggish brute. Hence why they only interact once in the whole movie.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Vincennes' scenes with Matt Reynolds are pretty hard to take after it was revealed that Creator/KevinSpacey had a long history of molesting young male actors. Even worse is that a large part of the film which Jack Vincennes is involved in is a subplot about Ron Rifkin's character molesting young actors. In his introduction scene, Vincennes [[BadassBoast boasts]] "America isn't ready for the ''real'' me!" which aged poorly in light of Spacey's scandal.
** Bud’s murder of Inez Soto's rapist, an unarmed black man, and Bud trying to frame the situation as “self-defense” by planting a gun next to his corpse is meant to be uncomfortable but given the recent issues of PoliceBrutality during the 2010s and 2020, it’s even more uncomfortable. Plus the line about the public not caring if black men with records getting killed is also this when you think about the times the police use previous felonies of the victims to justify their murders.
* HilariousInHindsight: ''Film/TheNiceGuys'' brought Creator/RussellCrowe and Creator/KimBasinger together again, and in a story set in Los Angeles to boot!
* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:[[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] is a [[FauxAffablyEvil charming and witty]] but utterly corrupt police officer. Aiming to [[DiabolicalMastermind take control of all criminal activity]] after the fall of Mickey Cohen leaves behind a power vacuum, Dudley kills or chases away rival criminal opposition in the city. When his corrupt officer underling Dick Stensland goes behind his back in an attempt to sell stolen heroin, Dudley has Stensland shot in a public diner to mask the killing. [[FramingTheGuiltyParty Framing a trio of rapist criminals]] for the massacre, Dudley attempts to have the rapists killed during arrest to avoid them talking. Even when the criminals are instead arrested, Dudley [[CrazyPrepared manages to orchestrate their escape]] to have them killed by well-meaning Lieutenant Edmund Exley. Manipulating the entire police department, when the heroic officers begin closing in on him, Dudley has Edmund photographed sleeping with officer Bud White's girlfriend in an attempt to [[LetsYouAndHimFight have Bud kill Edmund]] and begins murdering his own criminal business partners to tie up loose ends. When Edmund holds him at gunpoint, Dudley [[NervesOfSteel faces him with no fear]] and when Edmund stays his hand, simply tries to talk Edmund into [[WeCanRuleTogether joining him]] as he restarts his criminal empire, coming within an inch of victory and embodying both the charm and corruption that a police badge can conceal]].
%%* OneTrueThreesome: Bud/Lynn/Ed.
* RootingForTheEmpire: [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. He is evil, but not as depraved as his book counterpart. In fact, [[PayEvilUntoEvil most of his victims in his film counterpart are criminals, corrupt cops or other scumbags]]. Besides this, he doesn't have any really disgusting crimes like rape or infanticide. EvilIsCool aside, Dudley Smith framing a trio of rapist criminals for the massacre, ordering them killed during the arrest by his associates to make sure they won't talk is an act one can hardly call evil.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. Even though they both have a completely different cast and crew, both are set in Los Angeles, both were made 40 years after the time period in which they are set, and both feature themes of betrayal, corruption of public institutions and officials, and "neo-noir" values. Oh, and both have scores by Music/JerryGoldsmith.
----
to:
* TheWoobie: Matt Reynolds. Unless you think smoking a little pot should result in being set up for the "Movie Premiere Pot Bust," [[spoiler:having your career and life destroyed, then being exploited by the very guys who did it to you, which then results in your murder.]]
!!From the film:
* AlasPoorScrappy: Sid Hudgens is despicable, especially his setting up Reynolds to blackmail Loew, but the way [[spoiler: Dudley]] double-crosses and then shoots him point-blank? You can't help but feel a little bad for the guy.
* AwardSnub:
** Often held up as one for its Best Picture loss to ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s.
** Likewise, Creator/RussellCrowe, Creator/GuyPearce, and Creator/KevinSpacey all failed to even earn nominations in the acting categories (the former two likely due to still being relatively unknown at the time).
** This film did one-up ''Titanic'' by beating it to the Library of Congress' UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry.
* CompleteMonster:
** [[spoiler:[[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] is a [[AWolfInSheepsClothing disarmingly friendly]] policeman whose [[FauxAffablyEvil manner]] belies his utterly corrupt nature. Aiming to [[DiabolicalMastermind consolidate control of all criminal activity in Los Angeles]] after the fall of gangster Mickey Cohen leaves a power vacuum behind, Dudley steadily chases away or kills all criminal opposition in the city. When his underling, crooked cop Dick Stensland, attempts to sell stolen heroin behind his back, Dudley has the Nite Owl diner shot up, killing innocent civilians alongside Stensland. Framing a trio of criminals for the crime, [[FramingTheGuiltyParty knowing their history as rapists]] will allow him to evade scrutiny, Dudley tries to have them killed while [[PoliceBrutality accusing them of resisting arrest]]. When the arrival of other cops on the scene first undermines his plot, Dudley orchestrates the criminals escaping from captivity, having them killed by Edmund Exley, a young cop trying to do good who [[ManipulativeBastard looks up to him]]. Swiftly murdering any officers who discover his criminal empire, when Dudley is nearly exposed, he merely kills off all of his business partners to tie up loose ends and tries to [[TheCorrupter corrupt]] Edmund into joining him after all of his men are killed in a shootout to restart his organization anew.]]
** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Pierce Morehouse Patchett]] is a [[SmugSnake sleazy]] businessman trying to take over Los Angeles crime with [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. Running Fleur-de-Lis using [[HighClassCallGirl high-class call girls]] given surgery to resemble famous actresses, Patchett assists [[spoiler:Dudley]] in eliminating Dick Stensland by having a call girl date Stensland and lure him to the cafe for both to be killed along with four other innocents. {{Blackmail}}ing politicians and regularly murdering rival criminals, Patchett orders a call girl dating officer Bud White to to seduce the investigating Edmund Exley in the hopes Bud will kill Edmund for he and [[spoiler:Dudley]] to evade any chance of being caught, and casually murders a young actor for [[HeKnowsTooMuch overhearing their plans]].
%%* EvilIsCool: [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. He's a badass old man and a MagnificentBastard ''combined''.
* FridgeBrilliance: On the making-of featurette on the DVD, Creator/RussellCrowe laments that he only had one scene with Creator/KevinSpacey, before concluding that Bud White doesn't like Jack Vincennes. Naturally, an old-fashioned police officer like Bud would loathe someone like Jack, whom he sees as a self-serving {{glory hound}}, while Jack would have little time for Bud, whom he'd dismiss as a thuggish brute. Hence why they only interact once in the whole movie.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Vincennes' scenes with Matt Reynolds are pretty hard to take after it was revealed that Creator/KevinSpacey had a long history of molesting young male actors. Even worse is that a large part of the film which Jack Vincennes is involved in is a subplot about Ron Rifkin's character molesting young actors. In his introduction scene, Vincennes [[BadassBoast boasts]] "America isn't ready for the ''real'' me!" which aged poorly in light of Spacey's scandal.
** Bud’s murder of Inez Soto's rapist, an unarmed black man, and Bud trying to frame the situation as “self-defense” by planting a gun next to his corpse is meant to be uncomfortable but given the recent issues of PoliceBrutality during the 2010s and 2020, it’s even more uncomfortable. Plus the line about the public not caring if black men with records getting killed is also this when you think about the times the police use previous felonies of the victims to justify their murders.
* HilariousInHindsight: ''Film/TheNiceGuys'' brought Creator/RussellCrowe and Creator/KimBasinger together again, and in a story set in Los Angeles to boot!
* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:[[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] is a [[FauxAffablyEvil charming and witty]] but utterly corrupt police officer. Aiming to [[DiabolicalMastermind take control of all criminal activity]] after the fall of Mickey Cohen leaves behind a power vacuum, Dudley kills or chases away rival criminal opposition in the city. When his corrupt officer underling Dick Stensland goes behind his back in an attempt to sell stolen heroin, Dudley has Stensland shot in a public diner to mask the killing. [[FramingTheGuiltyParty Framing a trio of rapist criminals]] for the massacre, Dudley attempts to have the rapists killed during arrest to avoid them talking. Even when the criminals are instead arrested, Dudley [[CrazyPrepared manages to orchestrate their escape]] to have them killed by well-meaning Lieutenant Edmund Exley. Manipulating the entire police department, when the heroic officers begin closing in on him, Dudley has Edmund photographed sleeping with officer Bud White's girlfriend in an attempt to [[LetsYouAndHimFight have Bud kill Edmund]] and begins murdering his own criminal business partners to tie up loose ends. When Edmund holds him at gunpoint, Dudley [[NervesOfSteel faces him with no fear]] and when Edmund stays his hand, simply tries to talk Edmund into [[WeCanRuleTogether joining him]] as he restarts his criminal empire, coming within an inch of victory and embodying both the charm and corruption that a police badge can conceal]].
%%* OneTrueThreesome: Bud/Lynn/Ed.
* RootingForTheEmpire: [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. He is evil, but not as depraved as his book counterpart. In fact, [[PayEvilUntoEvil most of his victims in his film counterpart are criminals, corrupt cops or other scumbags]]. Besides this, he doesn't have any really disgusting crimes like rape or infanticide. EvilIsCool aside, Dudley Smith framing a trio of rapist criminals for the massacre, ordering them killed during the arrest by his associates to make sure they won't talk is an act one can hardly call evil.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. Even though they both have a completely different cast and crew, both are set in Los Angeles, both were made 40 years after the time period in which they are set, and both feature themes of betrayal, corruption of public institutions and officials, and "neo-noir" values. Oh, and both have scores by Music/JerryGoldsmith.
----]]
!!From the film:
* AlasPoorScrappy: Sid Hudgens is despicable, especially his setting up Reynolds to blackmail Loew, but the way [[spoiler: Dudley]] double-crosses and then shoots him point-blank? You can't help but feel a little bad for the guy.
* AwardSnub:
** Often held up as one for its Best Picture loss to ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s.
** Likewise, Creator/RussellCrowe, Creator/GuyPearce, and Creator/KevinSpacey all failed to even earn nominations in the acting categories (the former two likely due to still being relatively unknown at the time).
** This film did one-up ''Titanic'' by beating it to the Library of Congress' UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry.
* CompleteMonster:
** [[spoiler:[[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] is a [[AWolfInSheepsClothing disarmingly friendly]] policeman whose [[FauxAffablyEvil manner]] belies his utterly corrupt nature. Aiming to [[DiabolicalMastermind consolidate control of all criminal activity in Los Angeles]] after the fall of gangster Mickey Cohen leaves a power vacuum behind, Dudley steadily chases away or kills all criminal opposition in the city. When his underling, crooked cop Dick Stensland, attempts to sell stolen heroin behind his back, Dudley has the Nite Owl diner shot up, killing innocent civilians alongside Stensland. Framing a trio of criminals for the crime, [[FramingTheGuiltyParty knowing their history as rapists]] will allow him to evade scrutiny, Dudley tries to have them killed while [[PoliceBrutality accusing them of resisting arrest]]. When the arrival of other cops on the scene first undermines his plot, Dudley orchestrates the criminals escaping from captivity, having them killed by Edmund Exley, a young cop trying to do good who [[ManipulativeBastard looks up to him]]. Swiftly murdering any officers who discover his criminal empire, when Dudley is nearly exposed, he merely kills off all of his business partners to tie up loose ends and tries to [[TheCorrupter corrupt]] Edmund into joining him after all of his men are killed in a shootout to restart his organization anew.]]
** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Pierce Morehouse Patchett]] is a [[SmugSnake sleazy]] businessman trying to take over Los Angeles crime with [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. Running Fleur-de-Lis using [[HighClassCallGirl high-class call girls]] given surgery to resemble famous actresses, Patchett assists [[spoiler:Dudley]] in eliminating Dick Stensland by having a call girl date Stensland and lure him to the cafe for both to be killed along with four other innocents. {{Blackmail}}ing politicians and regularly murdering rival criminals, Patchett orders a call girl dating officer Bud White to to seduce the investigating Edmund Exley in the hopes Bud will kill Edmund for he and [[spoiler:Dudley]] to evade any chance of being caught, and casually murders a young actor for [[HeKnowsTooMuch overhearing their plans]].
%%* EvilIsCool: [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. He's a badass old man and a MagnificentBastard ''combined''.
* FridgeBrilliance: On the making-of featurette on the DVD, Creator/RussellCrowe laments that he only had one scene with Creator/KevinSpacey, before concluding that Bud White doesn't like Jack Vincennes. Naturally, an old-fashioned police officer like Bud would loathe someone like Jack, whom he sees as a self-serving {{glory hound}}, while Jack would have little time for Bud, whom he'd dismiss as a thuggish brute. Hence why they only interact once in the whole movie.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Vincennes' scenes with Matt Reynolds are pretty hard to take after it was revealed that Creator/KevinSpacey had a long history of molesting young male actors. Even worse is that a large part of the film which Jack Vincennes is involved in is a subplot about Ron Rifkin's character molesting young actors. In his introduction scene, Vincennes [[BadassBoast boasts]] "America isn't ready for the ''real'' me!" which aged poorly in light of Spacey's scandal.
** Bud’s murder of Inez Soto's rapist, an unarmed black man, and Bud trying to frame the situation as “self-defense” by planting a gun next to his corpse is meant to be uncomfortable but given the recent issues of PoliceBrutality during the 2010s and 2020, it’s even more uncomfortable. Plus the line about the public not caring if black men with records getting killed is also this when you think about the times the police use previous felonies of the victims to justify their murders.
* HilariousInHindsight: ''Film/TheNiceGuys'' brought Creator/RussellCrowe and Creator/KimBasinger together again, and in a story set in Los Angeles to boot!
* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:[[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] is a [[FauxAffablyEvil charming and witty]] but utterly corrupt police officer. Aiming to [[DiabolicalMastermind take control of all criminal activity]] after the fall of Mickey Cohen leaves behind a power vacuum, Dudley kills or chases away rival criminal opposition in the city. When his corrupt officer underling Dick Stensland goes behind his back in an attempt to sell stolen heroin, Dudley has Stensland shot in a public diner to mask the killing. [[FramingTheGuiltyParty Framing a trio of rapist criminals]] for the massacre, Dudley attempts to have the rapists killed during arrest to avoid them talking. Even when the criminals are instead arrested, Dudley [[CrazyPrepared manages to orchestrate their escape]] to have them killed by well-meaning Lieutenant Edmund Exley. Manipulating the entire police department, when the heroic officers begin closing in on him, Dudley has Edmund photographed sleeping with officer Bud White's girlfriend in an attempt to [[LetsYouAndHimFight have Bud kill Edmund]] and begins murdering his own criminal business partners to tie up loose ends. When Edmund holds him at gunpoint, Dudley [[NervesOfSteel faces him with no fear]] and when Edmund stays his hand, simply tries to talk Edmund into [[WeCanRuleTogether joining him]] as he restarts his criminal empire, coming within an inch of victory and embodying both the charm and corruption that a police badge can conceal]].
%%* OneTrueThreesome: Bud/Lynn/Ed.
* RootingForTheEmpire: [[spoiler:Dudley Smith]]. He is evil, but not as depraved as his book counterpart. In fact, [[PayEvilUntoEvil most of his victims in his film counterpart are criminals, corrupt cops or other scumbags]]. Besides this, he doesn't have any really disgusting crimes like rape or infanticide. EvilIsCool aside, Dudley Smith framing a trio of rapist criminals for the massacre, ordering them killed during the arrest by his associates to make sure they won't talk is an act one can hardly call evil.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. Even though they both have a completely different cast and crew, both are set in Los Angeles, both were made 40 years after the time period in which they are set, and both feature themes of betrayal, corruption of public institutions and officials, and "neo-noir" values. Oh, and both have scores by Music/JerryGoldsmith.
----
