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Movies / On DVD / Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

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Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)

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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.

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Reviews for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

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121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang turns into a film that is too ostentatiously pleased with itself, so in love with its own cleverness it doesn't notice it's darn near worn you out.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/20/05
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Shane Black's film noir is a movie with no particular reason for existing, a flashy, trifling throwaway whose surface cleverness masks a self-infatuated credulity.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/20/05
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Raucously entertaining.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
10/20/05
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

Hard-boiled dialogue and drop-dead attitude rarely hit their target as hilariously as they do in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
10/20/05
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

Black's retro-noir reminds us why we love movies: because they can surprise us, even when we're ankle deep in bullet casings, bodies and enough twists to tie us in knots.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/20/05
Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder
Chicago Tribune

Among the biggest surprises of the year.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
10/20/05
Mark Olsen
Mark Olsen
L.A. Weekly

The movie itself may be the slyest bit of all, proving that it's possible to come back not just adequately, but better than before.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
10/20/05
Keith Phipps
Keith Phipps
AV Club

Lethal Weapon 5

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
10/19/05
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

Brilliantly spoofs Hollywood and the buddy comedy genre...with an irreverent script...a real treat.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
10/19/05
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

[A] deliriously enjoyable noir comedy-thriller.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
10/19/05
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly

It's Chinatown on crack; no, make that Chinatown on crystal meth.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
10/18/05
Richard Horgan
Richard Horgan
FilmStew.com

Downey's pseudo-hip one liners do not work.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
10/18/05
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Tongue planted in its cheek and elbow digging for your ribs, the movie is tricked out with a panoply of new wave stunts.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
10/18/05
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice

An entertaining, albeit eclectic and eccentric, mélange.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
10/17/05
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Murder mystery meets the odd couple in this blackly hilarious bravado film that goes further in self referentialism than anything seen before.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/15/05
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

...awfully entertaining...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
09/24/05
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Sly, darkly humorous and a lot of fun, this postmodern satire playfully deconstructs every Hollywood genre: noir, private eye, actioner, and male buddy comedy

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
09/14/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

A modernized frat-boy version of Chinatown ... and I mean that in a good way.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/09/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

I couldn't have liked it more.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
09/09/05
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

While Downey Jr. and Kilmer come through this exercise unscathed, the whole think is just too busy, too pleased with its own bratty hipness...

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
09/08/05
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews
 
 
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

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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