To be honest, I didn’t think French filmography could get any worse after the last season of Emily in Paris. I was wrong, very wrong. Somehow I still managed to dread this film. Maybe it’s a ‘me thing’ but, when has any iteration of French humor ever landed? Although it is possible I am frustrated because of the translation and localization, as a non-native speaker, I refuse to resign this film to the niceties of diplomacy. It clearly lacked substance. I am sorry for greeting my readers with negativity. Let’s get to the point about why Nice Girls missed the mark.
I set my expectations at zero for this movie, basing everything on the poster as well as the description available on IMDb. With those assumptions, I anticipated some seriously over the top portrayal of femininity from two women who were unapologetically combat ready cops sporting 80s chic, but it turns out I was dead wrong.
Nice Girls encapsulates the tale of two cops trying to solve a mystery while also attempting to save the city of Nice but not in the over-the-top style you would expect. Sure, some of the action sequences are entertaining while some others make you question how much of a novel Hollywood tried to take with their idea of feminism, but regardless, none of it is entertaining enough for you to sit through the plot. There are two things that matter in this story. One is what happened to Ludo and the other is what’s going to happen in Nice. To say the first of the two is rather abandoned until the last third of the film would be putting it nicely. No doubt, that ending is quite a nice touch, but the journey to reach that point is so poorly structured that if you made it I’d give you the credit.
I’ve got to concede, the film not feeling French is a unique take, and with the right delivery, I would have appreciated the humor. There are no stunning dresses, no overtly sexual attractions aside from a couple of PG-16 allusions (shocker, I know) and the best part is you’re not dealing with women who fit your French stereotypes.
They are not strikingly dressed in a bold red lip and nautical t-shirts they are just plain. I do have to admit that Leo is not the most fun character though, she is almost as obnoxious as Emily but definitely more palatable.
Melanie is the other hand is much more of a Nice Girl, and is quite the fun character. There is nothing 2 dimensional about them, but given that I got a little lost in the film, I did not notice that until I sat down to write this article. In my opinion, the beginning and end of the film work perfectly fine, it is how we get from start to finish that does not work. If only there was a more coherent approach then I would have been more inclined to try to find out what actually happened to Ludo and what the girls’ connection to the big threat Nice faces is. I guess I am not the best person to review this film considering I don’t like comedy police procedurals in general, but from an experience point of view, this one was quite a disappointment for me.
This film may pack a few punches action-wise, but as far as the ensuing comedic turns of said action scenes, it really misses the mark.
Couldn’t possibly stress this enough. English translations, likely, do not enhance the experience for me and they likely wouldn’t work wonders for a francophone either. Overall, I would not recommend watching a film in a dubbed version, any language, unless one is struggling to follow the plot. With a dub such as the one in this film, do not bother switching over.
Considering the film is a tad over the top, there is limited creativity depth when it comes to constructing the characters which is totally fine. The leading actresses are decent enough to watch and have palpable on-screen chemistry whether they are fighting or playing besties. The bat is hilarious and sweet at random intervals of time, but the love story angle was so baffling. If you want to completely zone out, Nice Girls is the film for you.
What is more disappointing is that at the end of the day, gender-swapping the buddy-cop genre does not add anything new to the movie Nice Girls. This shift is not profound in any manner; it honestly feels as if screenwriters intended this film for men and at the last minute, replaced them with women (like Ripley in Alien) this leads to a lack of emotional depth or vulnerability to the characters which makes the film unbearable. There is certainly nothing problematic with changing the genders in a genre film but what one does with it makes all the difference, and I think this film did poorly.
There is nothing in Nice Girls that sustains interest and makes viewers want to continue watching, including the characters, their relationships, or even the main subplot of Ludo’s death. There is no space for curiosity due to the jumbled way the story is sewn together. In a way, the film is an incomplete attempt to reckon with the fun of 80s cop films, but with women taking center stage. The fact that it is neither serious nor humorous is exactly the reason the film falls apart.
The movie attempts to include every possible theme and offer little to no depth concerning these ideas. To sum it up, this movie is not worth watching. If you really wish to know my thoughts.
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