KISS KISS, BANG BANG

By
Jeanne D. Corcoran
nevadafilm.com
jeannec@theflickchicks.com

Finally a movie this season that blows the doors off.  Hysterically funny in dark and bizarre ways,  this murder mystery-thriller-black comedy puts Elmore Leonard (“Get Shorty”), Raymond Chandler (noir detective books ad infinitum), Monty Python-esque absurdity, and “Snatch” violence with F-bombs aplenty, into a blender, and out comes Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

 

What is it about this title, though?  Not to be confused with the 2000 “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” about a sci-fi dork fixating on his neighbor, OR the Italian/Spanish 1966 “Kiss Kiss…Bang Bang” spy movie OR the 1971 Chinese Chow Yun-Fat film of the same title OR even the 2000 Chris Penn  “Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)” set in London (about a pro hitman who finds the proverbial shoe on the other foot), this is a splendidly well-executed, potty-mouthed, raunchy mélange of genres and attitudes.  It mixmasters contemporary Los Angeles, an insider’s view of Hollywood, a pastel palette sixties-feeling retro canvas of scenic and set design, and the smoke-filled, pulp novel gumshoe world. 

 

Robert Downey Jr. plays Harry Lockhart, a small time New York burglar and schnook who bumbles his way into a shot at movie stardom in Los Angeles.  Val Kilmer, an impeccably-clad detective known as “Gay Perry” (yes Mon Ami, it’s a possible take on Gay Paree’), takes him under his wing for method acting in how to be a detective, and homicides ensue.  There are  layers of plot work and pacing that will keep you riveted as you try to follow who’s on first and guess who’s on second.  Val Kilmer is utterly fabulous as Gay Perry, who – if you’ll excuse the expression – plays it straight to Downey’s Harry, a doofus-with-a-heart-of-gold.  Harry also gives a lot of big city, East coast lip that earns him more than a few lumps.  You’ll grimace while you’re laughing.

 

Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), Harry’s childhood dreamgirl shows up, with her feet of clay and miniscule talent (watch for the brilliantly stupid Bear-and-Beer commercial).  She is a wonderful balance of appealing and spunky without being too ingénue-cute.  Although her character is supposed to be well over 30, she has a wonderful childlike vulnerability, and her past connections to Harry are woven in well. 

Corbin Bernsen is Harlan Dexter, a wealthy, smarmy wanker who also gets to be seen in flashback as his younger, fuller-tressed matinee-idol self (remember LA Law?). 

 

Director and screenwriter Shane Black (Lethal Weapon in ‘87, The Long Kiss Goodnight in ‘96) is sardonic wit personified in the staging and in the script.  Based in part on a novel of the late, Edgar-award-winning mystery writer Brett Halliday, Black made the story his own and it pops. There is much clever dialogue, crackling and snapping like downed power lines.  There are quicksilver cross-references to other movies and subjects that take you by surprise, and you’ll have to see the flick several times to appreciate them all.  I especially liked the composite character descriptions of people at the party by Harry and Harmony, and little jibes peppered throughout including one about Harmony’s stewardess friend. 

Harry’s efforts -- to help Harmony, clear himself of a frame-up, stand up to bullies and bad guys, learn from Perry, cling to the dream of being an actor, and solve multiple murders -- lead everyone on a frenetic free-for-all of bullets and bodies.

 

This movie has the true hallmark of a cult classic:  everything you expect to happen pretty much does NOT, and you are constantly startled and shocked and find yourself laughing out loud with surprise.  Just what a movie is supposed to do:  exceed your expectations.

Another pleasant surprise is that this movie is a rarity nowadays, in that it doesn’t get political!  What a nice change.  At the outset, you wonder when it will go off on a not-so-subtle tangent or climb inappropriately up on a soapbox to poke its captive audience, but it doesn’t.  Hurrah!

Leave the kids at home, please.  Please.  This is a great little movie for grownups.  To paraphrase hapless Harry:  This is every shade of right.