“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang”
Warner Bros. Pictures
Written and directed by Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen and Shannyn Sossamon
Rated R/104 minutes
Opens Nov. 11, 2005
Three out of four stars
It was Godard who said, “All you need for a movie is a girl and a gun.” That philosophy has been put to use in the movies time and again, spawning decades’ worth of sexy action flicks.
Shane Black is no stranger to such a formula, having created the “Lethal Weapon” series, the first two of which were excellent. Black disappeared for a while, but he has returned with a self-referential take on the buddy genre he helped ignite in “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.” But Black, who makes his directorial debut here, doesn’t cop out and repeat the same things he did in “Lethal Weapon.” The material is certainly similar, but he takes a different approach.
“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” blends Raymond Chandler-esque film noir with Hollywood glitz and self-aware satire, as narrator and star, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.), repeatedly talks to the audience, admitting he’s “a sh***y narrator,” purposely pointing out the film’s foreshadowing and admitting how “unbelievable” the ending is.
The technique has been done before but rarely with such wit and charm-and Downey finds the perfect self-deprecating tone.
This should not only be trumpeted as Black’s comeback, but that of the troubled but talented Downey as well. His performance as Harry, a small-time crook who quite unintentionally gets caught up in a world he can’t handle, is simply brilliant. He plays it straight but comical, as a desperate and confused man who thinks he knows what he’s doing just because he’s seen it in the movies.
The story is more than a little convoluted, and for the most part, I’ll let the viewers figure out its delicious little twists and secrets for themselves. But the basics are these: While trying to run away from the police after robbing a toy store (he was looking for a gift for his nephew), he stumbles into a movie audition where he impresses the casting director enough to give him a screen test. But first, he has to take detective lessons from a private detective known as Gay Perry (Val Kilmer, in another good performance).
Then there’s The Girl, Harmony (Michelle Monaghan), a struggling actress who knows Harry from childhood. Together, the three of them become embroiled in a seedy murder mystery involving Harmony’s sister, a pair of hit men, a dead body that shows up in Harry’s shower, a Hollywood big shot…oh you name it, it’s all there.
Some of the things that occur are among the funniest and most unexpected scenes to be seen in theatres all year.
While the film’s visuals are great looking and drenched in noir-ish atmosphere, Black isn’t as good a director as he is a writer. At times, he can’t quite find a feel for the pacing and timing of certain scenes.
But it’s hard to care about such squabbles. “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” re-envisions an old genre, and in doing so, breathes new life into it, thanks in no small part to the chemistry between Downey and Kilmer. In his triumphant return to the scene, Shane Black’s “Kiss Kiss” proves more than enough “Bang Bang” for the buck.
