Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Review by Michael Jaffe

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is aptly titled as if it were a pulp novel from the 1950’s. and true to its title, the confusing murder mystery of a plot is overshadowed by the acting and the brilliantly written script. Shane Black, writer of the great Lethal Weapons I, II, III and The Last Boy Scout and of the not so great Lethal Weapon IV and The Long Kiss Goodnight, shows why he was at one point the hottest writer in Hollywood. Kiss Kiss is his directorial debut, directing from his script, and he shows that he has picked up a lot of flair from the directors who he has written for previously. Kiss Kiss provides us what Black does best writing, offbeat buddy cops bantering, and directing, great lighting and cool camera shots. The plot of the film though is a terribly conceived plot involving a NY small time criminal, Harry Lockhart, who accidentally aces an audition and gets flown to LA where he receives detective training from a real private investigator named Gay Perry. And yes, Perry is actually homosexual. The two men accidentally witness a murder, then the body winds up in Harry’s apartment and the plot goes downhill from there. It involves twins and incest and Michelle Monaghan.
Ms. (I hope) Monaghan plays Harmony Faith Lane, was Harry’s best friend in high school and they run in to each other at a bar. By chance Harmony’s sister who she left at home appears, further dragging the plot into a level of silliness that shouldn’t be allowed in Hollywood, unless your Michael Bay of course. The acting is what really saves this movie though, as Robert Downey Jr. playing Harry ahs his best role in years and is hysterical with his quick one-liners and even his mannerisms make you forget that this is Downey. Val Kilmer, one of my personal favorite actors, is Gay Perry and the fact that he is gay never really shows through his incredibly cynical, straight (pun intended) performance. The characters of Harry and Perry play off of each other so well and their dialogue and acting is so good, you never really notice that the film’s story really, REALLY sucks. The acting, writing and even the pretty good, not spectacular directing makes up for the fact that nothing going on makes sense. 7.5/10