Movie Haiku - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

www.kisskiss-bangbangmovie.co.uk


Dir: Shane Black


Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen


Fag and New Yorker

banter makes you laugh out loud

dog ate his finger


Shane Black wrote the scripts for seminal action flicks Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout, pocketed $4 million for The Long Kiss Goodnight and then disappeared in a cocktail of booze, drugs and hookers (probably). One nervous breakdown later and he's back with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a satire on the buddy movie which also marks his directorial debut. Harry Lockhart (Downey Jr) is a petty thief who ends up tagging along with private eye Gay Perry (Kilmer) after bursting in on a Hollywood audition and being hired on the spot in a classic case of mistaken identity. Perry's latest case involves the daughter of a producer (Bernsen) who turns up dead in a lake, whilst Harry is falling for wannabe actress Harmony (Monaghan) - who just happens to be his pal from back home - whose sister also turns up dead in LA. Of course, like the 'Johnny Gossamer' novels that the movie references, this is pure pulp fiction, so we just know that these two seemingly seperate cases are going to be connected. As thrillers go, it hits all the right notes, throwing in enough red herrings and holding the interest commendably. There's none of the explosive set-pieces you might imagine from Black's action-packed pedigree; sure, there's a few thrills along the way but largely Kiss Kiss Bang Bang keeps its feet on the ground rather than riding the blockbuster cliches - and it's all the better for that. Where the film excels - and this won't come as a shock to fans familiar with Black's oeuvre - is in the writing. Within five minutes I was sold on this film and I found myself laughing out loud more times at the cynical, sarcastic repartee than in any supposed 'straight' comedy this year. But it's more than just Black's dialgoue, it's his whole approach, his constant breaking of genre conventions. This is one smart, savvy Hollywood satire - perfectly encapsulated in Harry's inept narration causing him to halt the film and rewind to add the little details he missed, or in Harry and Perry's messages to the watching audience as the film is winding to a close. It certainly helps that all three of the lead actors are on top form here. Downey Jr is just perfect as the (not quite so) innocent caught up in this surreal city, and he's subjected to the type of physical abuse more akin to Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead films! Kilmer gives his best performance in years and newcomer Monaghan smoulders like a modern day femme fatale, oozing sex appeal, yet with edge to her that keeps you questioning whether she's really Harry's dream girl, or if she's just using him as a pawn in a more sinister game. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang might have proved too sophisticated for middle America, but it should find a more appreciative response over here and I urge you to go and see it - it really is a gloriously entertaining action-comedy-thriller-satire of the highest calibre.

soulmining rating: *****