Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Director: Shane Black)













Black is the man who wrote the Lethal Weapon series. He is credited with the story of The Last Boy Scout and also wrote The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Monster Squad, and did script rewrites on Last Action Hero (lots of "lasts" and "kisses" in the man's filmography). This is his directorial debut. He wrote the screenplay based in part on Brett Halliday's novel Bodies Are Where You Find Them. Possibly getting a Nashville release this weekend, but I'm not sure; it's been playing in other cities since last month.

Shane Black could not be more of a poster child for quick success in Hollywood. His sold his debut script for Lethal Weapon at age 22. Much of the conventions of the buddy-action picture can be attributed to him, although he hardly invented the genre. You may notice that the credits associated with Black seem to be the mindless variety, and you would be right. You can also pin "fun" on many of those titles.

Kiss Kiss is about a thief named Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.) who, in a run from the LAPD finds himself crashing an audition, one where he accidentally impresses the producers (one played by Larry Miller). The role is a detective, and Harry must follow detective "Gay" Perry (Val Kilmer) to get pointers to get prepared for the part. Finding himself among the Hollywood brass, Harry runs into former crush Harmony Lane (superfine Michelle Monaghan, who earlier played in North Country and this summer's Mr. & Mrs. Smith). Shortly after these acquaintances, Harmony's sister apparently kills herself, but Harmony believes it's murder, and soon Harry and Perry are trying to find out the truth.













This has some of the best dialogue of the year, and all three leads are highly appealing. Downey, Jr. and Kilmer make a great comedic team. Although the mystery of it all can get complex and a little confusing, rest assured you'll have no problem with it by the end. And the unpredictability of this movie is a welcome jolt. There were numerous instances here where the movie shunned conventions and went for complete surprise.

Complete and total fun.