a5c7b9f00b A noir send-up. A narrator introduces himself at a Hollywood party: he's Harry Lockhart, a thief from New York, in L.A. for a screen test. He meets Gay Perry, a glitzy private eye who's to school him for his role; there's Harmony Lane, a wannabe actress whose time has passed; the host is an aging actor who starred in detective movies, plus his daughter, with starlet looks and a choppy past. The next day, Gay and Harry stake out a house where Gay is to take surreptitious photographs for a client - what they find is a corpse. From there, twists and connections abound and bodies pile up. Who's double-crossing whom? And, has Harry found Harmony too late to save himself from misery? In Los Angeles, whilst being chased by police officers, thief Harry Lockhart finds himself in a movie audition where he is mistaken for a actor, auditioning for a role in a detective film. Harry attends a party where he reunites with childhood friend Harmony Faith Lane, who is acting in Beer commercials and wants to make it to the big time and act in Hollywood movies and Harry also meets gay private detective Perry Van Shrike. When Perry discovers a dead body and Harmony's sister commits suicide, Perry decides to involve Harry in the investigation and Harry decides to play along and pretend he is a detective. Investigating the case, Harry and Perry become suspicious of the party guests who have all become suspects, as Harry and Perry set out to uncover the murderer's identity, Harry finds himself falling in love with Harmony. This film is a knockout! I have not witnessed a more entertaining opening fifteen minutes of cinema since watching Pulp Fiction.<br/><br/>I was eager to watch this film since it generated a mild buzz on the net on its original cinema release. You have to hand it to Hollywood favourite turned burnout Shane Black, to create a masterpiece of genre subversion and the best first-person narrative i have heard since 'Goodfellas'.<br/><br/>Robert Downery Jnr is a genius and i stand by that comment even after seeing 'The Singing Detective'. Val Kilmer is even better and i stand by that even after seeing 'Wonderland'.<br/><br/>Hopefully, anyway who can be bothered to read this comment will maybe want to watch this film now so i can feel that i have made a small difference in the world. And there is no need to thank me just freaking enjoy it! <br/><br/>"I invented dice as a kid" Remember that! With his directorial debut, Shane Black presents a style full of self-awareness, subverting some clichés of the noir genre while playing others straight, all of this carried by a fantastic performance by Robert Downey Jr as main character Harry Lockhart.<br/><br/>It's hard to label Kiss Kiss Bang Bang a buddy cop movie, not with so much more focus on one perceived "buddy" over the other, and neither of them are cops either. Harry Lockhart is our main character and narrator, a criminal turned good at first winning you over with charm, but keeping your attention and care with great development. This movie is often referred to as Robert Downey Jr's big comeback, and the performance he gives lives up to that notion. Val Kilmer as Perry and Michelle Monoghan as Harmony also give good performances, but the range Downey gives from smarmy and casual to emotional and serious is stunning, one of the best parts of the movie.<br/><br/>However, that particular range can be said for the movie as a whole; it always feels like these are actual people talking and interacting with one another, not people on a screen. This is thanks to Black's outstanding screenplay, with dialogue rivaling Tarantino's level of novelty and realism. There are some writing traits that can grate with repetition (one guy has a sarcastic response to a somewhat legitimate question, followed by "of course it is."), but the writing never loses it's charm from it.<br/><br/>The story is a basic mystery deal, but with plenty of subversion and the tongue-in-cheek style to keep things interesting. Lockhart literally tells the story to the audience, pointing out certain clichés and devices with full self-awareness. Plenty of other clichés fall apart on their own to hilarious effect, but some are strangely played straight with no mention or reconstruction. They don't hurt the movie greatly, but they're noticeable enough to feel out of place.<br/><br/>Overall, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is bolstered by a slick script and a standout performance, full of excitement that doesn't feel said and done. Shane Black made his name with this movie, and it's one worth remembering. One of the coolest and most memorable films of 2005 – I just want to see it again. Clueless thief Harry Lockett (Robert Downey Jr.) runs into an audition for a detective movie audition, when he is pursued by the police, when an attempted toy store robbery goes wrong, which his partner is shot and killed. Harry, mistaken for an actor auditioning for a role in the film, unwittingly wins a role in the film and is invited to attend a Christmas party hosted by former actor Harlan Dexter (Corbin Bernsen). At the party, Harry meets tough private detective Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) and reunites with aspiring actress Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), whom was Harry's childhood friend. As Gay Perry teaches Harry lessons on being a detective to prepare him for when the film begins production. Harry soon finds himself caught up in a murder mystery, when Dexter's estranged daughter Veronica is murdered, which soon becomes complicated, when Harmony's sexually abused sister Jenna commits suicide and Harmony asks Harry to investigate. Suspecting that Veronica Dexter's murder and Jenna Lane's suicide are somewhat connected and that Jenna's death was no suicide, but murder. Harry and Gay Perry supported by Harmony set out to uncover the truth behind the murder of Veronica Dexter and the death of Jenna Lane and the pair begin to suspect that one of the party guests could be the murderer and they uncover a conspiracy behind the murder case.
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