Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Great Acting but A Little Self Indulgent...

Well casted, well acted, well filmed, and almost well written - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang intrigued me and turned out to be what I expected it to be: a quaint, slightly offbeat dark detective comedy. Nicely set up and compelling in the beginning - Downey and Kilmer make an unlikely but highly watchable duo. Downey is spot on as ever, but it's Kilmer who shines. Past the a-list, it's interesting to see Kilmer in different roles now. The plot however, turned out to be more complicated than Robert Towne's Chinatown and several other mysteries combined, and that turns out to be the film's undoing. We end up keeping up with it because of Downey's predicament, but ultimately this isn't quite an action, comedy or thriller but more of a headscratcher instead. Worth watching mainly if you're either a Downey or Kilmer fan - or really desperate to watch Corbin Bernsen! July 28, 2008

What was the point?

This movie made no sense to me. It was boring after the opening scene.
Not sure what the plot was. Some girl rehooks up with Robert Downey Jr., there are car chases, people get shot and killed, there are trashy Hollywood chicks at parties.
Only saving grace to this film was Val Kilmer. July 15, 2008

Overlooked

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang came and went surprisingly fast at the movie theatres. Which is a shame because it features a great story and some truly brilliant performances. July 10, 2008

Clever and funny, maybe too clever, and with a fine performance by Robert Downey Jr

Part of me clearly appreciates the clever, loving riffs on noir movies, but part of me is seriously put off by the nudge, nudge, ain't I being clever pretensions of writer-director Shane Black. At one time, and maybe he still is, Shane was Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter, proud author of such big-time drek as the Lethal Weapon movies, Monster Squad, Last Action Hero and The Last Boy Scout. In other words, he knew how to hit a bulls-eye with the 18 to 28 male target audience. In Hollywood, that spells quality writing with a cap Q.

With Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, we're witness to one of Hollywood's power players with a potty mouth wrestling with style and witty parody. The witty parody wins, but it's a close call. Why? Because Black can't resist self-congratulatory in-jokes and reveling in his own cleverness. He's the smart-mouth kid who tries to be the nonstop laugh and life of the party.

The set-up is nice...petty thief Harry Lockhart is running from the cops in New York when he busts in on a talent call for a movie. In short order he's sent to Los Angeles for more tests for a part of a private eye. Real private eye Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) is assigned to prep him. Then at a party he encounters Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), a woman he fell for when they were school children in Indiana. Before long Harry, who isn't too bright but is well meaning, is finding bodies in car trunks, on floors and in beds. He's beaten, shot, tortured and has a finger swallowed by a friendly mutt. Gay Perry keeps rescuing him, Harmony keeps tempting him and hit men dog them all. The mystery is almost irrelevant. It's the brittle style, smart-mouth dialogue, loving reverence for the noir sensibility and the acting that gives us pleasure. For my taste, Black's Hollywood insider cleverness in both the writing and the directing starts to get tiresome...not enough to be a complete turn-off, but enough that I wished he'd stop nudging us with his elbow. The movie chapter headings he gives us, each one a title of a Raymond Chandler novel, is a case in point. Clever and amusing the first time, tiresome the second time and "alright, all ready, we get it" each time after.

Kilmer and Monaghan do fine jobs with their roles, but it is Downey who really shines. He now has a hard-earned, lived-in face that serves him well. He can handle drama as easily as comedy. With Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, his Harry Lockhart is not exactly a loser, but he certainly is slow at grasping essential facts. Downey gives Harry a great deal for us to like. Mainly, he gives us a well-intentioned guy to whom all sorts of things happen. Harry survives because he's serious, because he's loyal to Perry, because he loves Harmony and because Downey has superb comic timing.

The title comes from Pauline Kael by way of an old Italian movie poster. Says Roger Ebert, "These four words, she wrote, `are perhaps the briefest statement imaginable of the basic appeal of the movies. The appeal is what attracts us and ultimately makes us despair when we begin to understand how seldom movies are more than this.'" Hmmm...like the Lethal Weapon movies, Monster Squad, Last Action Hero and The Last Boy Scout?

The movie looks just fine. The extras include a commentary track by Kilmer, Downey and Black as well as a gag outtake reel. I didn't bother with either. July 9, 2008

Unknown Comedy is Hit!

Practically unheard of, most people haven't had a chance to see this movie. I don't remember when it was in the theatres and I didn't see it until after I re-discovered RDJ in "Iron Man" this summer. This movie is surprisingly good with plenty of witty dialog and smart one-liners. The plot gets a little confusing, but if you're in any way a fan of RDJ or Val Kilmer, you'll find a way to hold on. July 7, 2008

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