Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
2005
***½
Director: Shane Black
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen, Dash Mihok, Larry Miller, Rockmond Dunbar, Shannyn Sossamon, Angela Lindvall
Like his best-known screenplays (Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, and The Long Kiss Goodnight), Shane Black's directorial debut offers bullets and jokes galore, but the tongue remains firmly in the cheek as he plays with movie tropes and storytelling mechanics. The protagonist is a not-terribly-smart loser whose life turns upside down when he arrives in Los Angeles and stumbles on the body of a young woman. Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer (as a gay private investigator) have great chemistry and the film is funny, messy, and disposable.
