RARA-AVIS: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

From: Craig Larson ( CLarson@nhcc.edu)
Date: 01 Nov 2005


Just saw this movie last night and I wanted to pass on my recommendation. It won't be everyone's cup of tea--it's a very violent film, with some of the violence played for laughs. But I can't remember the last time I had so much fun at a movie. _Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang_ is a convoluted, buddy/detective movie starring Robert Downey, Jr., and Val Kilmer, two actors I don't always care for, but who prove to be a marvelous team in this film. Downey is a low level thief who is mistaken for a method actor and shipped off to Hollywood, where he is put under the tutelage of Kilmer's gay private detective, to prepare him for a movie role. The two of them stumble into a very complex mystery involving a kidnapping and a series of murders. The whole thing is played for comedy, with Downey as the snarky narrator, whose comments are quite often laugh-outloud funny and the story is just quirky enough to keep you guessing and keep you interested. The movie is divided into several chapters, each
  devoted to a single day, and each subtitled with the title of a Raymond Chandler novel (_The Lady in the Lake_, _The Little Sister_, etc.). And there's a running gag that ties into a series of pulp detective novels whose covers and ridiculous titles are referred to frequently. The plot doesn't always make sense, ala the original film adaptation of _The Big Sleep_, but the asides and the humor and the interplay between Kilmer and Downey keep the whole thing moving. At the end, both characters even apologize to all their viewers in the Midwest for the frequent use of the "f-word." The film is in limited release right now (playing at a single theater in the Twin Cities, but well worth the trip) and scheduled for wider release over the coming weeks. If you can handle the omnipresent violence, you might enjoy this as much as I did. I'd love to see a sequel with these same characters.

Craig Larson Plymouth, MN

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