Sure to Bother All the Right People

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I was never a fan of Downey until Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (and I've been pretty negative about Iron Man so far). If you haven't seen it, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is very amusing; Downey and co-star Val Kilmer--not what you usually think of when it comes to a comedic duo--kept me laughing throughout the faux-noir crime comedy.

Come to think of it, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang also had several meta elements like the main character stopping the film to address the audience and rewind to clarify things or explain how movies of the noir type are supposed to proceed. Maybe that's Downey's new thing?

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang [Ace]: I just searched for my review of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; turns out I didn't write one, it seems. I guess it was such an interesting, oddball, and fun movie I wanted time to think about how to review it. I guess I took too damn long.

If you've never seen it, and are a fan of hardboiled detective novels -- and self-referential meta-parody, and gay jokes,* and Shane (Lethal Weapon) Black, rent it. It's great. Not perfect, but so quick and rapid-fire fun that whatever flaws it has blow right by you.

The film's chapter titles are all Raymond Chandler novel or short story titles. Yeah, it's that sort of over the top homage/spoof.

Below, a funny scene from the film. One of many funny scenes. Language and violence warning.

Another one. Just to set this up, Val Kilmer has just used his gun to shoot the lock off a submerged car's trunk in order to rescue a girl locked in it. Trouble was, he shoots her through the head accidentally. (Again, it's that kind of movie.) So Robert Downey, Jr., who is a novice at all this detective stuff, takes his gun and throws it into the lake.

That's what you see as the clip opens-- Downey tossing Kilmer's gun into the lake. Right beside the submerged car and right by the shot-in-the-head dead girl.

BTW, I never "got" Robert Downey Jr. until this movie either. Now I get it. He's great.

* Actually the gay jokes are lame and annoying. The actual sort of joke that kills in this movie is the "Snappy Answer to Stupid Questions" joke, a la MAD Magazine.

Robert Downey Jr. asks a lot of stupid questions. Val Kilmer answers them, mocking him.

For example, when Robert Downey Jr. needs to move a corpse that was placed in his room and that he just peed all over (don't ask), Val Kilmer tells him he needs to get gloves and he needs to start moving the body.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Any special kind of gloves?

VAL KILMER: What?!

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Should I use a special kind of glove to move the body?

VAL KILMER (engraged): Yes. Fawn. You have fawn gloves, dipshit?

Eh, that's about the exchange.

What a great movie. Can't believe I didn't review it.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 01:24 PM

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