Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Robert Downey Jr, Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan. 2005, Silver Pictures. Shane Black, writer/director.

Film noir. Had the feel of the best of the Coen brothers (Big Lebowski, Man Who Wasn't There), etc. Dialogue-driven, in the hard-boiled style. Read like a Raymond Chandler story, which of course was the homage (with the chapters based on Chandler titles, i.e. Farewell My Lovely and The Simple Art of Murder)

Also what was spectacular was the use of the "unreliable narrator" in that, during the course of the narration - he hesitates, stops, reverses the scene - adds details that he "should" have added before during the narration in order to make the story more seamless, then apologizes to us, the audience, and continues on.

The setting also posts to the mood - however, in Chandler's stories, the city itself actually became a character in and of its own - in this movie, that seems to be alluded to, but the city does not become so integral to the story as the overall ambivalent ambiance of the people who live in LA - they seem to ride this soft wave of moral decadence, generally accepting of all types of evils as long as it doesn't rock their own personal boat. Several times throughout the movie my wife asked, "Why aren't those bystanders doing anything?" and I could only respond, "Hey baby, it's LA" which, to be honest, having never lived there, I don't know if I was buying into a stereotype or simply making a supposition based on valid information.

Guess some day I'll have to check it out for myself.

The story also depended heavily upon the Kilmer character's "gayness" which, while not truly intrinsic to the story, did help the dialogue - Downey's character development, overcoming a slight bit of homophobia and leading to additional witty repartee, even beyond the standard teacher-student arguments.

Basically, this movie is character- and dialogue-driven, with an extremely convalescent plot (along the lines of Maltese Falcon) and comes across as a fantastic homage to the style, proving that you can bring the hard-boiled directly into modern setting without losing any of the romantic flavor. The only problem with that is that you lose any sort of the modernistic "dirty" feeling to the story (that kind of COPS gore that's so prevalent in movies today).

Personally I would really love to have a copy of this screenplay. So, Mr. Black if you're reading this blog, just shoot me a copy, OK?

Everyone else, you MUST see this film.

VG