This is about as lowbrow and raunchy as any filmmaker will ever get with an R rating.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:142
Fresh:118
Rotten:24
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Tongue-in-cheek satire blends well with entertaining action and spot-on performances in this dark, eclectic neo-noir homage.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Comedies
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... 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]
Starring: Robert Downey, Michelle Monaghan, Val Kilmer, Corbin Bernsen
Starring: Robert Downey, Michelle Monaghan, Val Kilmer, Corbin Bernsen
Director: Shane Black
Director: Shane Black
Screenwriter: Shane Black
Producer: Joel Silver, Steve Richards, Carrie Morrow, Susan Levin
Composer: John Ottman
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
It's not Black's material that misses; it's his refusal to let anyone -- especially the audience -- take a breather between all those bangs and kisses.
Compared to the rock-stupid Miami Vice retreads that now glut the market, it's so witty that it's practically niche.
[Director Shane] Black is so determined to break down the 'fourth wall,' he loses sight of all reality. His film is too gimmicky for its own good.
'Tis the season for over-the-top violence and delightfully absurdist humor!
A delicious post-modern romp through a meta-fictional crime caper - I loved it.
An occasionally funny and entertaining film that ultimately tries too hard and cannot maintain the breakneck pace that the first act antes up.
Not as clever as it thinks it is, but it's a pretty enjoyable movie-movie nonetheless.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is the first movie since 1994's Pulp Fiction not just to understand movie violence as a pop cultural form ... but to play it like a virtuoso violinist.
Black has finally got the hipness that his Lethal Weapon films pawed like apes, thudding with macho humor.
Shane Black's Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is Raymond Chandler on comic steroids, a fast-paced, incredibly dense film noir thriller, knee-deep in Hollywood glitter.
Black has concocted a zany detective dramedy, a jokey, nocturnal Chinatown and an amazingly, amusingly verbose movie, all banter and hard-as-nails detective cliches.
This is one of Downey's most enjoyable performances, and one of Kilmer's funniest.
The movie's self-referential snarkiness borders on too clever for its own good, but there's no denying the fresh new edge to this one-time Hollywood hotshot's directorial debut.
I was at first entertained but eventually exhausted by all the movie references, which become maddeningly self-congratulatory.
Kiss Kiss may not smack of the truth or invite analysis, but in a warped way it gets the freaky job done.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is crass and crude, and loves every minute of it.
Kiss Kiss may be impossibly pleased with itself, but with good reason.
Latest News for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
February 17, 2006:
2 Afflecks and a Beauty Plan a "Baby"
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ben Affleck will soon be making his directorial debut on Miramax's "Gone, Baby Gone," a crime story adapted from the novel by... More...
December 23, 2005:
San Diego, Vegas & Utah Critics Make Their Year-End Picks
Thanks again to MovieCityNews.com for keeping us up-to-date on all the year-end critics flick-picks. This time it's the San Diego, Las Vegas and Utah reviewers who share their... More...
December 22, 2005:
Phoenix & Toronto Critics Offer Their Year-End Favorites
It's tough to keep up with all the critics' awards being tossed out this time of year, but Movie City News sure helps out a whole lot. This time we have the year-end picks from... More...
December 16, 2005:
London Movie Critics Present Their '05 Nominations
Movie City News shares with us a press release from the London Film Critics Group in which their various nominations are announced. Keep in mind that the Brit crits use their... More...
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