Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - a sorely overlooked masterpiece?

Shane Black was paid an obscene amount of money for his screenplay to The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) back in the early 90’s, this made him the highest paid writer in history. He had already written the tough and quip filled screenplays for action hits such as Lethal Weapon 1 & 2 and The Last Boy Scout. After The Long Kiss Goodnight was turned into a huge action disaster he disappeared from Hollywood.

He re-emerged almost ten years later with Kiss Kiss,Bang Bang his directorial debut. Although it debuted to much acclaim at Cannes in 2005, the studio releasing it had almost no idea how to market the film and it quickly disappeared from cinemas. It’s a shame as its undoubtedly one of the smartest, funniest and well written films of recent years.
 
Based in part on a novel by Brett Halliday, the film begins with Harry Lockhardt (Robert Downey Jr) who has just arrived at a Hollywood party and feels a little out of place. In flashback we see that Harry was a petty thief in New York City and one night whilst escaping from the cops he runs into a room where actors are auditioning.

Due to him being upset as his partner in crime was just shot by a cop Harry gives a great audition and is flown out to California as the latest discovery of the director. Whilst there he hooks up with a camp private detective Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) to teach him the tricks of the trade for the role. He also meets up with his former childhood sweetheart Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan). Whilst out with Perry they witness the disposal of a car with a body of a young girl in the trunk. During the same night they also find out that Harmony’s sister has unfortunately committed suicide.  Harmony believes she was murdered and hires Harry (who is now pretending to be a proper detective) to find out the truth which may have something to do with middle aged actor Harlan Dexter (Corbin Bernsen).

Yes the plot is convoluted and it gets even more tangled as the film goes on, that’s sort of the point though. The film works as a satire of detective noir fiction in the same way as The Big Lebowski as well as a piss-take of the whole L.A scene with its superficial surface. The best thing about this is the smart, hilarious dialogue.

There are so many great lines here that its hard to pick a favourite, these characters speak the way that we all wished we did. The interplay between Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer is fantastic and it’s the best shot in the arm to both of their careers that they could have hoped for. Robert Downey Jr in particular finally gives a performance that reminds you why he was so hyped before his mid-90’s fall from grace.

The film is also very self-aware; Harry’s voiceover makes reference to the ludicrous plot and the details that audiences should pay attention to. This could have turned out horribly but actually adds to the film’s charm with Kilmer and Downey Jr actually addressing the audience at one point. Its also quite violent in a slapstick way, people are shot and Harry in particular is tortured and even loses a finger twice.

This film is certain to be re-assessed in the years to come and will no doubt grow in popularity on DVD and showings on television. If you enjoy films by the Coen Brothers and Tarantino then you will have a blast with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. It is one of those rare films that actually gets better on repeat viewing, it has elements of previous action/noir films but gives it a fresh spin so that it seems like you are watching something new.

Trivia: Warner Bros. was willing to produce the movie with a larger budget if Harrison Ford were to play the detective. When he passed, several other options were briefly considered before Val Kilmer was offered the role.