After seeing The Nice Guys I had been wanting to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as I’m a big fan of Shane Black at this point. I’m also a fan of Robert Downey, Jr., so the film had been on my radar for a while. It’s another detective comedy, which seems to be in Black’s wheelhouse, and RDJ’s snarky humor is on display. I really enjoyed the film and give it the rating of Not Quite Golden, Ponyboy.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang brings the standard Shane Black style.
Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) is a small time criminal who stumbles into a film audition while on the run from the cops. Winning the part, he lands in Hollywood, where he’s flung into an actual mystery involving his childhood sweetheart, Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan), and hard-boiled private eye Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer).
: There are some amazing RDJ moments in this film. His reactions to the crazy things he keeps encountering are hilarious. Whether it’s accidentally being scared into peeing all over someone or losing his finger in a freak accident, he’s brilliant on screen. There are even early signs of Iron Man in this film when he gets to be quite a bad ass. One of the last action sequences in the film really gives RDJ the action star shine and features some awesome moments. Definitely a fun movie to watch.
There are a lot of gay jokes in the film because Val Kilmer’s character, who is billed as Gay Perry on IMDb, is a gay private eye. Some of the jokes poke fun at homophobia, but others are just showing the difference in the mindset of the time. All of the jokes in that vein don’t really hold up all that well as homosexuality isn’t the oddity it apparently was only ten years ago. Even the first moment we meet Perry, he is speaking to Dabney Shaw (Larry Miller) who equates a man seeing another man as sexy saying, “I don’t make that leap. It’s like, “Look, there’s an elephant. Quick…let’s drain its blood to paint my boathouse.”
The film is smart and funny with just enough action to keep it really interesting. The film feels more 90’s to me and I was surprised to see the film was only ten years old. If you like other Shane Black films then this is definitely one to check out.
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