After the last season of Emily in Paris, I didn’t think I could be more disappointed by anything set in France, at least for a while. But I was wrong. Nice Girls turned out to be a tedious watch, and while I might not fully grasp French culture, the humor in this film seemed to miss the mark entirely. Maybe it’s a translation issue, but as a non-native viewer, I found the movie underwhelming, and I’m not holding back on my disappointment.
I went into Nice Girls with zero expectations, having only seen the movie poster and read the IMDb description. I was hoping for some cool, badass action from two female cops with a love for 80s fashion, but what I got was far from that. The movie does revolve around two cops trying to solve a mystery and save the city of Nice, but not in the exciting way I imagined. Sure, there are some fun action sequences and moments that touch on feminism, but they aren’t enough to keep you engaged through the entire plot.
The story has two main points: what happened to Ludo and what’s going to happen in Nice. The first plotline feels abandoned until the very end, which, while a nice touch, doesn’t make up for the haphazard journey to get there. I’ll give credit where it’s due—the non-French aspects of the film are interesting, and if the jokes had landed, it could have been amusing. However, the film lacks the glamorous French stereotypes; instead, the characters are ordinary, which could have worked if the humor was better.
Leo, one of the leads, is not particularly likable—she’s almost as obnoxious as Emily from Emily in Paris, though slightly more tolerable. Melanie, on the other hand, is more of a “nice” girl and a more enjoyable character. Unfortunately, I didn’t fully appreciate these nuances until I started writing this review, as the film’s confusing narrative overshadowed them. The beginning and end of the movie work well enough, but the journey between them is where things fall apart.
If Nice Girls had a more structured approach, I might have been more invested in finding out what really happened to Ludo and how the girls connect to the big threat facing Nice. But as someone who doesn’t usually enjoy comedy police procedurals, this movie was a major letdown.
Action-wise, Nice Girls has its moments, but the comedic elements often fall flat. The dialogue, especially in translation, didn’t resonate with me, though a francophone might feel differently. In general, I don’t recommend watching a dubbed version of any film, and this one is no exception—the dub doesn’t add anything to the experience.
The performances are decent, given the over-the-top nature of the film, and the lead actresses have good chemistry. Bat is an endearing character, though the love story angle felt unnecessary and out of place. If you’re looking to switch off your brain and pass the time, Nice Girls might be for you, but don’t expect much more.
In the end, Nice Girls doesn’t offer anything new to the buddy-cop genre, despite the gender swap. The film feels like it was written for male leads, with women cast in the final stages, which leaves the characters lacking emotional depth and vulnerability. Gender-swapping in films can be powerful when done right, but Nice Girls doesn’t succeed in making the most of this opportunity.
There’s nothing in Nice Girls that compels you to keep watching—not the characters, their relationships, or even the subplot of Ludo’s death. The story is so poorly stitched together that any potential curiosity is lost. The film had the chance to revive the fun of 80s cop movies with women in the lead roles, but it failed to deliver. With a scattered narrative and underdeveloped themes, Nice Girls ends up being neither serious nor humorous enough to enjoy. I wouldn’t recommend this film, and if I had to rate it, I’d give Nice Girls 1.5 stars out of 5.

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