Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was the first Shane Black script since 1998's Lethal Weapon 4 and his first time behind the camera as director and it is this week's hidden movie gem.
The film also saw the first major lead role for actor Robert Downey Jr as he made his come back to the big screen.
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.
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.
Despite being highly praised by the critics the film only received a limited release grossing just over $15 million at the global box office.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang takes Black back to his roots of script writing and filmmaking he has kept it fun and simple without getting caught up in the blockbuster monster of the film industry, he was the highest paid scriptwriter when he turned his back on the industry.
Downey Jr and Kilmer banter well together as ex con Harry and gay detective Perry, both making their best movie for a while at the time, both making remarkable comebacks that deserve recognition.
Downey Jr is perfectly cast as Harry the petty thief running out of chances so he better make the most of the one given to him, remarkable how life imitates art.
And behind the camera Black has proved that he is not slouch as he has produced a movie that fast and funny and pays tribute to the old fashioned detective story while adding that modern day flair and laughing at the pretentiousness of Hollywood.
The witty script is a huge amount of fun and beautifully sends up the old detective stories as well as the detective movies such as L.A Confidential and Chinatown.
Despite not being a great box office success Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a triumphant return for Black, Downey Jr and Kilmer and a movie not to be missed.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw