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by Justin Allen
Shane Black makes his directorial debut in style with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
It has been a while since I had this much fun at a movie.
Black is better known for being one of the highest paid scriptwriters in Hollywood during the early 1990s, with such credits as Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout. However, this film is certainly a horse of a different color, a comedic noir deconstruction that hooks you from the beginning.
The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan.
Downey and Kilmer are one of the best comedic duos I’ve ever seen, with witty banter and slick one-liners coming relentlessly.
Downey plays a small-time crook named Harry that ends up in Hollywood, seeking the part of a private eye.
Kilmer plays Gay Perry, a gay private detective that Harry is assigned to shadow for research.
The two have unbelievable chemistry and later on when you are repeatedly asking the person next to you what’s going on, you won’t really care as long as they keep up their comedic rapport.
It doesn’t take long for things to get crazy.
Dead dames start sprouting up like weeds, and the plot starts getting convoluted, the trouble compounded with relentless pacing. Despite all this, it is what makes the movie so enjoyable.
You’ll be hard pressed to keep up, but you’ll be having so much fun you won’t care.
Black piles on multiple layers of sub-text.
This is a film where the plot is lifted from the pages of a fictional pulp author, and the characters are noir deconstructions knowingly trapped within it.
Downey, who also acts as narrator, repeatedly breaks the fourth wall.
I know most of what I’m saying doesn’t make any sense, and that’s ok. Don’t worry about anything I just wrote – just go see this movie.
Afterwards, you’ll be telling people to do the same thing.
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Lifestyles 
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