As much as I would love to, I'm not able to get around to every movie out there, no matter how good it may be. So, when I heard I missed one really good movie in my travels, I decided to go back and look at it. What I got was a viewing of the Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer classic Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, and I'm so glad I went back for this one.
The movie revolves around Harry, once a magician, now a thief who runs from the cops, only to stumble in on an audtion for a detective, only to nail it and get moved out to L.A. Once he's there, he is paired up with a real detective who happens to be gay, appropriatly named Gay Perry. Once together, the two get into a real case, involving murder, mayhem and a really hot Michelle Monagahn.
This movie was a blast, and a completly unconventional comedy/drama/action movie. I describe it that way, because like Lethal Weapon, the movie was almost completely split between the three genres. The film was narrated by Downey, and broke the fourth wall several times. The best part, however, was the tremendous witty banter between Downey and Kilmer. Both are very good at those long bits of dialogue, anyway, but the writing makes it even better here. Besides the comedy, the muder mystery going on in the movie is actually interwoven nicely throughout the movie. The performances by everyone involved were top notch, and you also get a topless Monagahn, just for a bonus.
Overall, I'm giving this movie a solid 9 out of 10 because it was very smart, funny, entertaining and real, all at the same time. I found myself saying this was the "best movie ever" quite a few times, and when I get that excited over a movie, you know it's pretty good!
TRIVIA: The movie's title is a reference to an un-used theme song to the James Bond movie Thunderball (1965). "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" was recorded by first Shirley Bassey and then Dionne Warwick after composer John Barry had chosen the title when he read a magazine article which mentioned that was how Bond was known in Italy. However, the producers got cold feet at the last moment and asked him to write a title song, "Thunderball", which was performed by Tom Jones. Both versions of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" were released many years later, and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" has since become a slang description of the James Bond-style spy genre.
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