Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
You know those action movies that when you see them, you count the cliches. You watch them, and you know exactly where it’ll end up in the end. You watch them, and realize they’re so ridiculously stupid, you’re killing brain cells just by watching them. And yet, you watch them, and you come out with a stupid smile on your face. I’ve seen many movies like that over the years- several of them (“The Big Hit,” “Broken Arrow,” “The Italian Job,” “Wild Things”) are in my collection. “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is such a film, and it’s going in the collection.
“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is the brainchild- though adapted “in part” from a novel by Brett Halliday- of Shane Black, the screenwriter behind “Lethal Weapon,” “The Last Boy Scout,” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight” who is making his directorial debut after a long sabbatical from filmmaking. Welcome back Shane. This is the best of the Black aesthetic- mismatched partners, tough women, and silly comedy balanced out by unexpected feeling. It’s one of the year’s most devious entertainments.
Part of that is the tone, set at the outset by the sly narration by Robert Downey Jr. and the neo-noir jazz score by composer John Ottman (returning to “Usual Suspects”/”X-Men 2” form after his uninspired work on “Fantastic Four”). Immediately- like, when Downey’s narration breaks through the 4th wall, acknowledging that yes, boys and girls, you’re watching a movie- you realize this isn’t your grandfather’s- or even your father’s- film noir. “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”- a reference to a book title by the late critic Pauline Kael- is part of this recent brand of contemporary noir- like “Suspects” and “Wild Things”- that delivers dark comedy and eccentric characters to go along with sepentine plots twistier than a pretzel. You should be able to figure out where it’s headed pretty early on (though Black- as always- still has some jokers up his sleeve), but trust me when I say you’ll have a blast getting there.
Downey Jr.- having a great comeback year with this star-rejuvinating performance (one of his best) & turns in the arty “Eros” and “Good Night, and Good Luck”- narrates and stars as Harry Lockhart, a petty thief from New York on the job- hey, he’s gotta get his niece something for Christmas somehow- who’s avoiding the cops after things go south when he hides out in an audition for a cop movie. It’d be easy to get caught in such a situation except that Harry brings his recent experiences (he just lost his partner too) to the role, prompting the producers to send him out to Hollywood for a screen test and pairing him with Detective Perry Van Shrike (Val Kilmer, proving with diabolical wit he’s much better when told to cut loose- which he does here- than stay stoic- like he was in “Alexander” and “Spartan”) to teach Harry the ins and out of real detective work. If you don’t think Black is going to play with the obligatory “buddy thriller” homosexual undertones with a character nicknamed Gay Perry (as Kilmer’s character is nicknamed), you haven’t seen enough movies. If you doubt you’ll be laughing yourself stupid at such humor, you underestimate Black, Kilmer, and Downey’s ability to twist dialogue and situations to their very will for maximum comic effect.
That Harry becomes wrapped up in a real-life mystery where the bodies pile up faster than Downey’s quips goes without saying. That Perry wants to add Harry to the body count also goes without saying. And that Harry will try to hook up with Harmony Faith Lane, the story’s resident femme fatale- newcomer Michelle Monaghan is a world-class hottie (a scene with her in a skimpy santa outfit is a highlight) with a brain to match her body (she bounces off her fearless costars in a way that rivals “The Big Sleep’s” Lauren Bacall)- who also happens to be Harry’s childhood crush goes without saying. Hey, these things go with the turf. What shouldn’t go without saying is that Black has concocted a wildly entertaining- and smartly mindless- story that rivals “Lethal Weapon” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight”- both models of the genre- in ridiculous fun. Don’t try to wipe that stupid grin off of your face- like Black’s earlier triumphs, this movie earns it.
