Thoughts on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) · 12:32am Dec 20th, 2023
Chunks of this are taken from a write-up I first did of this movie back in 2018, but there ARE still some new observations inserted along the way as well.
(Rewatched November 2nd, 2023.)
Watched this one with my parents Still holds up in my eyes.
"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is a delightfully zany and bittersweet riff on film noir and detective fiction. You have Robert Downey Jr. as screw-up thief and ex-magician Harry Lockhart, who blunders his way into a shot at a TV detective role after a job gone wrong. Harry is assigned to spend some time with the actual detective Perry van Shrike, aka "Gay Perry" (Kilmer), to get some experience for the part. At the same party where he first meets Perry, Harry also runs into his old childhood crush Harmony Lane (played by Michelle Monaghan); as well as the party's host, retired actor Harlan Dexter (played by Corbin Bernsen), who recently resolved a ten-year feud over his wife's inheritance with his daughter Veronica...
Sounds important down the road, yes? As Harry's narration puts it...
"I apologize, that was a terrible scene. It's like, why was that in the movie. Gee, do you think it'll come back later, maybe? I hate it when movies do that. TV's on, talking about the new power plant, hmm, wonder where the big climax will happen?"
That kind of lemony snark is a major highlight of the movie. Harry's narration is delightfully full of smartassery, fully aware that he's narrating a movie, and it's one of the many (pitch-black) comedic highlights of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The characters in the film, from major to minor, all throw around some wonderfully hilarious quips and snarkery.
Like with Shane Black's later movie The Nice Guys, it's hard to talk about some of the plot twists in this film, since, as a crime and mystery story, the plot elements and the impact of those twists are a major part of engaging with the film. But here is what I will say...
The mystery begins with Harry following Perry on a stakeout, and they end up witnessing some hoods disposing of a car in a lake. After trying (and hilariously failing) to mount a rescue, Harry is later contacted by Harmony about investigating another case: her sister's suicide, which she believes was actually a murder.
No way that those two cases are connected, right? After all, it's not one of the Jonny Gossamer novels that Harmony likes so much...
Like The Nice Guys, this is a film that deals with many harsh and sour subjects. The film gleefully deconstructs many of the trappings of a film noir story (especially those by Raymond Chandler - to the point that different segments of the movie are titled after Chandler works like "The Lady in the Lake" and "Farewell My Lovely"), revealing the harsh reality beneath... but at the same time, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang presents this harsh reality with enough snappy banter and winks to the audience to remind us why the fake stories are still fun.
One thing that leapt out at me on this second watching is the emphasis placed on just how wretched and systematically screwed-up LA and Hollywood are. (Some of this may hit a little differently regarding later allegations about one of Shane Black's associates, admittedly, but still... food for thought all the same.) It's in a lot of facets of the movie; from a darkly humorous interlude about Harmony's encounter with a depressed Robocop-type actor on a bender, to Harry's painkiller-fueled rant about Hollywood, to the ultimate nature of the plot behind "the dead people in LA." (My favorite of these moments though, would have to be a moment between Harry and Harmony where he's mistaken for having copped a feel. His dismay at her nonchalance about it is very telling, for both characters, and what kind of environment she's become used to.)
Robert Downey Jr. - again, during a time in his career when he was seen as little more than box office poison - turns in a fantastic performance as Harry. His character is a screw-up and a motormouth, who almost always suffers some form of abuse, and yet despite his smartassery, loose lips and penchant for bad decisions, still has a notable chivalrous streak.
Val Kilmer is also a delight as the sharp-witted, and sharper-tongued Gay Perry. He's a tough badass with a lot of (justifiable) frustrations about babysitting Harry, and provides one of the film's most memorable lines. No spoilers, but trust me, it's unforgettable 
And credit to Michelle Monaghan as Harmony Lane as well. She's an enjoyable presence in the movie and plays off of both Downey and Kilmer well. It's also kind of fun (and sad in its own way) to see her character, as she really comes off as a subversion of the femme fatale in a lot of ways: attractive, sexual, and bringing a mystery and trouble with her... but instead of being some manipulator or the like, she's as much of a well-meaning screwup as Harry.
All in all, glad to have revisited this one again. Definitely a very bittersweet movie in tone, but man do the jokes come thick and fast, and all in all, it lands in just the right way for me.
