Character Relationship Map: The Nice Guys

Characters

• Jackson Healy (played by Russell Crowe) — protagonist

  Jackson Healy is a violent enforcer hired by Amelia Kuttner to frighten Holland March away from her. After realizing Amelia is in danger, he joins March to investigate the missing film, confronts hire...

• Holland March (played by Ryan Gosling) — protagonist

  Holland March is a private investigator hired to locate Misty Mountains after Mrs. Glenn claims to have seen her posthumously. He reluctantly partners with Jackson Healy, follows the conspiracy surrou...

• John Boy (played by Matt Bomer) — supporting

  John Boy is a hired hit man sent to eliminate witnesses connected to Amelia Kuttner's investigative film. He murders distributors, attacks Holly and Jessica while disguised as a doctor, kills Amelia,...

• Amelia Kuttner (played by Margaret Qualley) — supporting

  Amelia Kuttner is a fearful activist who hires Jackson Healy to scare Holland March away, then becomes the central target of the conspiracy. She helped create a film exposing alleged collusion over ca...

• Judith Kuttner (played by Kim Basinger) — minor

  Judith Kuttner is Amelia's mother and a high-ranking Justice Department official who hires Holland March and Jackson Healy to find her daughter. She claims Amelia is delusional, uses a false money del...

• Chet (played by Jack Kilmer) — minor

  Chet belongs to Amelia Kuttner's anti-pollution protest group and brings Holland March and Jackson Healy to the burned house of Amelia's deceased boyfriend. As the projectionist for the Los Angeles Au...

• Blueface (played by Beau Knapp) — supporting

  Blueface is a thug who searches Jackson Healy's apartment and earns his nickname after triggering a dye pack. He tries to kill Amelia, is injured in a hit-and-run, and warns Healy that John Boy will e...

• Jessica (played by Daisy Tahan) — minor

  Jessica is Holly March's friend and is present when John Boy attacks Holland March's house while disguised as the family's doctor. Alongside Holly, she becomes endangered during the shootout, linking...

• Older Guy (played by Keith David) — supporting

  Older Guy is one of the thugs interrogating Jackson Healy about Amelia after the dye-pack incident at Healy's apartment. He later continues pursuing the investigators, fights Holland March on the auto...

• Tally (played by Yaya DaCosta) — supporting

  Tally is Judith Kuttner's assistant and acts on her employer's instructions during the effort to control Amelia and the film. She misdirects Holland March and Jackson Healy with a false money delivery...

• Mrs. Glenn (played by Lois Smith) — supporting

  Mrs. Glenn hires Holland March to investigate her niece, Misty Mountains, because she believes she saw Misty after her death. Her unusual claim begins March's investigation and eventually helps him re...

• Misty Mountains (played by Murielle Telio) — supporting

  Misty Mountains is a porn star whose supposed appearance after death prompts Mrs. Glenn to hire Holland March. She had worked with Amelia Kuttner and Dean on an experimental film combining pornography...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Jackson Healy → Misty Mountains (Professional Case Investigator) — Misty's case becomes part of Healy's joint investigation.

  Healy joins March in following the missing film and the people connected to Misty's apparent appearance.

• Holland March → Chet (Professional Investigator) — March identifies Chet's role in exposing the evidence.

  March questions the film's trail and realizes that Chet can project it at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

• Holland March → Amelia Kuttner (Professional Investigator) — Amelia's disappearance becomes March's main case.

  March searches for Amelia, shelters her at his house, and investigates her claims about the film and Judith.

• Chet → Misty Mountains (Professional Projectionist) — Chet controls the film's eventual public presentation.

  March and Healy realize that Chet is the projectionist who can screen the film at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

• Tally → Jackson Healy (Professional Intermediary) — Tally shifts from messenger to armed obstruction.

  Tally intercepts Healy and March at gunpoint at the auto show while carrying out the opposing operation.

• Tally → Holland March (Professional Intermediary) — Tally relays instructions that manipulate March's investigation.

  Tally tells March that the family doctor will check Amelia and assigns the briefcase delivery intended to draw them away.

• Tally → Judith Kuttner (Professional Assistant) — Tally acts as Judith's operational intermediary.

  Tally is identified as Judith's assistant and communicates Judith's instructions to March and Healy.

• Judith Kuttner → Jackson Healy (Professional Employer) — Healy becomes involved in Judith's official search for Amelia.

  Judith hires March and Healy to find Amelia after claiming Amelia is delusional.

• Judith Kuttner → Holland March (Professional Employer) — Judith temporarily commissions March's investigative work.

  Judith hires March and Healy to find Amelia, and March demands a five-thousand-dollar payment.

• Judith Kuttner → Amelia Kuttner (Family Mother) — Their family relationship is central to the conspiracy dispute.

  Judith is identified as Amelia's mother and claims that Amelia is delusional.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Jackson Healy → Jessica (Alliance Protector) — Healy helps end the threat at March's home.

  Healy returns with March during the attack at March's house and participates in the shootout against John Boy, who attacked Jessica.

• Mrs. Glenn → Misty Mountains (Narrative Witness) — Mrs. Glenn's mistaken observation launches the case.

  Mrs. Glenn claims that she saw Misty after Misty's death, and March later realizes she saw Misty in a film projected against a wall.

• Chet → Amelia Kuttner (Alliance Collaborator) — Chet helps preserve and publicly exhibit Amelia's evidence.

  Chet brings March and Healy to Dean's burned house, and later splices Amelia's film into the auto-show presentation.

• Amelia Kuttner → Misty Mountains (Alliance Collaborator) — Amelia and Misty share authorship of the investigative film.

  March and Healy learn that Amelia and Dean were working with Misty on an experimental film combining pornography and investigative journalism.

• John Boy → Jessica (Conflict Attacker) — Jessica is endangered during John Boy's assault.

  John Boy arrives disguised as the family doctor and attacks Jessica during the shootout at March's house.

Story Analysis

Two mismatched investigators uncover a suppressed film, survive escalating attacks, and expose a conspiracy while forming an unlikely partnership.

Plot Progression

1. A Case Born From Death — Mrs. Glenn hires March to investigate her impossible sighting of Misty Mountains. Amelia hires Healy to stop him, but threats against Healy force the two men into an uneasy partnership.
2. The Film Behind The Fire — March and Healy follow Amelia's protest network to Dean's burned house. They discover that Amelia and Misty were connected to an investigative film that powerful people want hidden.
3. Witnesses Under Siege — The investigation reaches Shattuck's party, where a body, a dying witness, and the arrival of John Boy reveal a larger murder operation. Judith then hires the detectives while presenting Amelia as del...
4. The Conspiracy Closes In — Amelia explains the alleged catalytic-converter conspiracy from March's house. A deceptive briefcase assignment separates the detectives from Amelia and allows John Boy to attack.
5. The Evidence Goes Public — March interprets Mrs. Glenn's sighting as a projection clue and traces the film to Chet's auto-show presentation. The film is screened, Judith is arrested, and March and Healy form a new agency.