A raucous mix of black comedy and noir thriller.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Synopsis: Harry Lockhart (ROBERT DOWNEY JR.) is basically a decent guy. Sure, he's a petty thief who skates through life on a shaky cocktail of dog-eared charm and cockeyed optimism, but he wants to do the right thing. He just doesn't know how, exactly. Harry's perpetual bad luck takes a turn for the... Harry Lockhart (ROBERT DOWNEY JR.) is basically a decent guy. Sure, he's a petty thief who skates through life on a shaky cocktail of dog-eared charm and cockeyed optimism, but he wants to do the right thing. He just doesn't know how, exactly. Harry's perpetual bad luck takes a turn for the better when he and his partner are doing some after-hours Christmas "shopping" at a New York City toy store and the security alarm breaks up the party. (Yeah, it sounds like trouble, but keep reading.) In making his frantic getaway from the cops, Harry inadvertently stumbles into an audition for a Hollywood detective movie, and faster than you can say Jack Robinson, the producer flies him to Los Angeles for a screen test. Thrust into the cutthroat world of L.A.'s pros, cons, losers and wannabes, Harry is teamed with tough-guy private eye Perry van Shrike (VAL KILMER), AKA "Gay Perry," to prepare him for his screen test. Gay Perry is ruthless, relentlessly tough and - you guessed it - gay. He also has little patience for Harry, who tries out his acting skills by passing himself off as a detective. It seems like nothing short of destiny when the thief-trying- to-be-an-actor- impersonating-a-detective crosses paths with Harmony Faith Lane (MICHELLE MONAGHAN), an aspiring actress who needs his help. Inspired by her hero Jonny Gossamer, a fictitious hard-boiled private eye featured in a series of pulp detective novels, Harmony moved to Hollywood to pursue her dreams...but a few years and a lot of rejections later, she's facing the harsh reality that her best days may be behind her. When the mysterious suicide of Harmony's sister intersects with a seemingly unrelated case that Harry and Gay Perry are investigating, they suddenly find themselves embroiled in a real-life murder mystery. Bodies surface and re-surface...long-buried family secrets erupt in present-day mayhem...and what began as a free trip to L.A. may result in Harry's one-way ticket to the city morgue. If he's going to stay alive and become the hero that Harmony needs him to be, Harry will have to convince a reluctant Gay Perry to help him solve the case. He'll need to channel Jonny Gossamer's tough-as-nails swagger. And a little dose of luck - or is it fate? - wouldn't hurt, either. --© Warner Bros. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Robert Downey, Michelle Monaghan, Val Kilmer, Corbin Bernsen
Screenwriter: Shane Black
Producer: Joel Silver, Steve Richards, Carrie Morrow, Susan Levin
Composer: John Ottman
Reviews
Bold and breathless, this trippy, hilarious, know-it-all comedy-thriller will have you reliving its ironic spoils for days, but you’ll still be hard-pressed to nail the actual story.
As a slice of disposably self-referential entertainment, it more than earns its keep, and also acts as an effective witness-protection programme for two stars who were formerly more in need of a bullet than a kiss.
It's the laugh-a-minute repartee of this odd couple that drives the movie far more than the ridiculously overly complicated plot.
An ultra-knowing exercise in genre deconstruction, and something of a charmer to boot.
Bold and breathless, this trippy, hilarious, know-it-all comedy-thriller will have you reliving its ironic spoils for days, but you’ll still be hard-pressed to nail the actual story.
A very writerly film, incessantly displaying a preoccupation with its own storytelling structure and cheekily blowing the lid off other movies' tropes and wiles.
Black is clearly having a huge amount of fun with the film and his witty script takes in everything from Chandleresque pulp novels to trashy Hollywood clichés and knowing in-jokes.
[A] smart, hilarious blend of detective story and action film, relishing the viciously twisting plot and the chance to take sarcastic swipes at life in superficial Los Angeles.
This is how Hollywood action comedies should be done -- smart, fast and a hoot.
[A] cheerful mess of a pulp-fiction parody, pumped full of laughs by Michelle Monaghan, Val Kilmer, and Robert Downey Jr.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is as much fun as the title suggests, and packed with banter that rolls off the tongue just as easily.
A good time for folks who like Raymond Chandler novels and action movies with a quirky side.
Goes for [snarky postmodernism] immediately, then, to my surprise, deftly pulls it off.
It's a movie that becomes so taken with itself, that it seems to be doing the laughing instead of the viewer.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang remains mostly on target, sending up old detective stories and contemporary cinema simultaneously,
A very funny send-up of hard-boiled L.A. detective movies like 'L.A. Confidential' and 'Chinatown.'
Mais do que a química impecável entre Downey Jr. e Kilmer, o filme conta com um roteiro inteligente que faz da metalinguagem um recurso constante e orgânico à própria trama.
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