Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen, Larry Miller, Angela Lindvall

Category: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller

What a little gem of a film. Many would put it in the often-mentioned ‘best films you’ve never seen’ category, and I would not be one to argue. The plot of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is relatively stock-standard. It centers on three main characters, each sharing close-to-equal screen time: Harry (a small-time thief masquerading as an actor), Harmony (his love interest) and the cynical but equally hilarious Gay Perry, a shrewd private eye who comes to the assistance of the other two when they are implicated in a murder case. However, with all due respect to screenwriters Black and Halliday, the ins and outs of the plot in-arguably take a back seat to the film’s near-perfect adherence to some of the more applicable conventions of noir film-making, while being original enough on its own merits to remain extremely entertaining.

Released back in 2005, the film stars Robert Downey Jnr. during what were still the baby steps of his triumphant return to the film industry. And speaking of originality, RDJ not only delivers a performance abundant in expert comic delivery and noir voice (his cynical narration of a fancy LA party in the opening scene gives you a sense that you’re about to witness something special), but one which couldn’t be further from his most famous role as Tony Stark, which has both placed him in the category of most-skilled modern day actors, and netted him an approximate seventy bajillion dollars in the process.

Michelle Monoghan is by no means weak as Harmony, but she does get overshadowed by her two co-stars. In particular, the underrated Val Kilmer makes an excellent turn as the wisecracking Gay Perry, whose interplay with RDJ’s Harry throughout the film never lets up on laughs or quality of dialogue. In fact, it is the extraordinarily unique screenplay that sets this film apart from what might have been just another poorly constructed buddy comedy. Showing occasional glimpses of scriptwriting talent in the Lethal Weapon series, Black has truly set himself a new benchmark here, with a tight script that compliments the rapid pace and noir cinematography of the film.

As far as humor goes, there is a heavy dose of both slapstick and farcical scenarios to make anybody laugh, coupled with wordplay that, if it fails to make you burst out laughing, will certainly put a smile on your face as you appreciate how much effort actually went into creating original jokes.

If I had to state one negative of the film, it is that the Second Act briefly gets too convoluted with the all-too-rapid introduction of secondary characters (some living, some dead), most of whom serve no other purpose than to act as red herrings, failing to deceive the rest of us. That being said, this really is a minor gripe of mine and, since those tangent arcs are wrapped up logically by the film’s climax anyway (as all good noir thrillers do), it should by no means discourage you from immersing yourself in this expertly-crafted fairytale of sex, sin and luxury.

9/10.

Author Bio: Johnny Hollywood

One day, a good friend started calling me Hollywood because of my never-ending desire to talk about films, and the nickname stuck like glue. There’s only one thing I love more than reviewing movies, and that’s discussing them with everybody and anybody, so never hesitate to tell me what you think about my work.