Don't we all love Robert Downey Jr.? What a guy, funny, quick-witted and with a great talent as a leading man. But things haven't been that rosy all the time. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s he was more known for his public escapades as a drug addict than for his films. But after arrest and rehab he went trough a drastic change and became one of the biggest box office stars of our time. Nonetheless he didn't immediately get high profile roles as a super hero, TV reporter or journalist. First, there was a little film in 2005 named "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".
And what a gem it is. This is exactly the kind of movie that isn't as well-known as it should be and you as the viewer will get great pleasure out of discovering it before anybody else does. In all seriousness, it is quite baffling to me that with Downey Jr.'s sudden rise to stardom this film didn't attract the attention of the crowds, instead it remains a cult favorite among a small circle of sworn in fans.
Written and directed by Shane Black (another candidate for a career resurrection now that he got the directing gig for "Iron Man 3") "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is a homage to the pulpy noir classics of the past, a real labor of love. The film's not just shot mostly at night in the standard noir city LA, it also features all the stereotypes, whip-smart femme fatales, convoluted conspiracies, stone-cold hitmen and the inevitable sleuth, of course characterized as a morally ambiguous anti-hero. Downey Jr. plays Harry, a crook who randomly ends up in an audition while on the run from the cops and suddenly finds himself in California, investigating crimes with his partner Gay Perry, played by a scene stealing Val Kilmer.
It's the dynamic between those two that drives the film and they clearly have a blast cracking one-liners that are reminiscent of Shane Black's earlier screenplays for the "Lethal Weapon" series. That the characters themselves remain shallow and the set pieces are all formulaic wasn't a problem for me thanks to a good dose of irony. In fact, every time Harry and Perry walk into another stock scene, you might think you know the outcome from the get-go but then Black breaks the cliche and creates something memorable and fun. His clever play with the audience' expectation is both refreshing and speaks for him as a director and writer.
So if you (like me) are always on the lookout for great underrated flicks, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" might just be right up your alley and is definitely worth checking out.
And what a gem it is. This is exactly the kind of movie that isn't as well-known as it should be and you as the viewer will get great pleasure out of discovering it before anybody else does. In all seriousness, it is quite baffling to me that with Downey Jr.'s sudden rise to stardom this film didn't attract the attention of the crowds, instead it remains a cult favorite among a small circle of sworn in fans.
Written and directed by Shane Black (another candidate for a career resurrection now that he got the directing gig for "Iron Man 3") "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is a homage to the pulpy noir classics of the past, a real labor of love. The film's not just shot mostly at night in the standard noir city LA, it also features all the stereotypes, whip-smart femme fatales, convoluted conspiracies, stone-cold hitmen and the inevitable sleuth, of course characterized as a morally ambiguous anti-hero. Downey Jr. plays Harry, a crook who randomly ends up in an audition while on the run from the cops and suddenly finds himself in California, investigating crimes with his partner Gay Perry, played by a scene stealing Val Kilmer.
It's the dynamic between those two that drives the film and they clearly have a blast cracking one-liners that are reminiscent of Shane Black's earlier screenplays for the "Lethal Weapon" series. That the characters themselves remain shallow and the set pieces are all formulaic wasn't a problem for me thanks to a good dose of irony. In fact, every time Harry and Perry walk into another stock scene, you might think you know the outcome from the get-go but then Black breaks the cliche and creates something memorable and fun. His clever play with the audience' expectation is both refreshing and speaks for him as a director and writer.
So if you (like me) are always on the lookout for great underrated flicks, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" might just be right up your alley and is definitely worth checking out.
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