Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Review

“Sex, Murder, Mystery. Welcome to the party”
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black, 2005) is really all you want to see in a movie. The Movie title originated from a poster in Italy, these four words are perhaps the most basic elements that attract up to a movie; are love for them. Its a shame more movies aren’t made like this. Fast, furious and politically incorrect Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, holds you and never lets go.

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. The film also encorperates pulp fiction elements, conveyed via the theme of Jonny Grossman novels: “two seemingly different storylines which eventually come together at the end”, the film works on this basis and doesn’t disappoint. The story line which becomes increasing more tangled as the film progressives eventually clears and settles towards the end of the film.

The film is pure fusion, a mash up of film genre, rounded by the conventions of film Noir; pumping up of moral ambiguity and sexual motivation mixed with Hollywood Crime drama, a perfect scene to emphasize this would be the torture scene featuring Harry “the magnificent” Loackhart (Robert Downey Jr), and Gay Perry (Val Kilmer), while Harry is having a delicate part of his anatomy meeting some electricity, Perry tries to convince the guy holding the two captive he’s gay, in a fast paced scene featuring hilarious dialogue and acting it showcases the style of the film.
The movie is narrated by Harry, in a very similar fashion to Sunset Boluevard (Billy Wilder 1950) that is: it allows the main character to express his feelings and also being American it allows for a recap of what’s happening in the film, and also allows for Shane Black to squeeze in some extra comedy. It is also similar to Sunset Blvd, in the opening of the film, featuring the man character (however not dead this time), featured in a shot looking up from the bottom of a pool.

In conclusion Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a damn fine film.