Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)October 19th, 2005
KISS KISS, BANG BANG
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting LETHAL WEAPON 5, the film KISS KISS, BANG BANG provides a reasonable approximation, although Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are nowhere to be found and the cop buddies are actually a PI and a PI wannabe rather than policemen. The film is written and directed by Shane Black. At the age of 23, his break into the Hollywood big time was his script for the first LETHAL WEAPON. If you've seen any of the long-running LETHAL WEAPON series, you'll immediately recognize the movie's shtick. The writing may not be especially fresh, but there are some good jokes along the way. The script, however, suffers from needlessly complexity and sometimes is too much in love with its own style.
Robert Downey Jr. stars as the narrator and the story's central character named Harry Lockhart, a two-bit crook who has lately been studying the art of private investigation. Val Kilmer plays a gay PI who is trying to teach Harry the tricks of the trade as they both try their best not to get killed by a bunch of bad guys. In a comedy that revels in its lack of subtlety, Kilmer's character is named Gay Perry. Of course, there will be a scene in which the reluctant Harry will be forced to give Gay a big kiss.
The movie is a takeoff on the type of detective fiction popular in old paperback books. Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan, WINTER SOLSTICE), who was Harry's best friend in high school and who slept with every boy except him, is a big fan of the Jonny Gossamer detective novels. She used to read these cheesy books to her mom, who was sick in bed. Now Harry finds himself in the same sort of situations that Jonny faced in his books, such as "You'll Never Die in This Town Again." When Harry has to kill people, they don't fall until the seventh bullet to the chest. And dames keep turning up dead, sometimes the same dame twice.
The best part of this zany picture is the narration, as Downey has great fun hamming it up. There is also lots of physical comedy, as the time when Harry accidentally urinates on a corpse. This puts him into a state of panic in a cell phone call to Gay, since Harry worries that the cops will now be able to trace the body to him via his large and unintentional DNA sample. There are arguments about grammar with discussions of the correctness of "I feel bad" vs. "I feel badly" being typical. The proper word is never quite decided.
Although I laughed sometimes, I kept remembering how much I wanted the LETHAL WEAPON series to die after its abysmal and tired fourth installment, and I kept thinking this movie was a ruse to get me to see LETHAL WEAPON 5 without my realizing it.
Still, I did like some of the dialog. My favorite interchange was about Gay's father. "Did your father love you?" Harry wanted to know. "He beat me in Morse code," Gay replied, "so it's possible, but he never, like, said the words."
KISS KISS, BANG BANG runs a long 1:44. It is rated R for "language, violence and sexuality/nudity" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, October 28, 2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
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