ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

adonis98-743-186503 A murder mystery brings together a private eye, a struggling actress, and a thief masquerading as an actor. With the anticipation of 'The Predator' rising with each day close to it's release i decided to watch Black's first directional work and unfortunately it was rather disappointing to say the least. The plot and storyline as a whole wasn't anything memorable or good, the perfomances were alright and the whole action comedy didn't work that much for me plus i found Black's work in Iron Man 3 much closer to him except the Mandarin twist i guess. (4/10)

Osmosis Iron I guess it's a really good murder mystery with a heavy dose of dark comedy and a touch of neo-noir. But it's so well written, is so funny and has such great dialogue that it becomes more than the sum of it's parts. RDJ and Val Kilmer are both really good. A tremendously enjoyable movie on every level!

Adam Moore With his directorial debut, Shane Black presents a style full of self-awareness, subverting some clichés of the noir genre while playing others straight, all of this carried by a fantastic performance by Robert Downey Jr as main character Harry Lockhart.It's hard to label Kiss Kiss Bang Bang a buddy cop movie, not with so much more focus on one perceived "buddy" over the other, and neither of them are cops either. Harry Lockhart is our main character and narrator, a criminal turned good at first winning you over with charm, but keeping your attention and care with great development. This movie is often referred to as Robert Downey Jr's big comeback, and the performance he gives lives up to that notion. Val Kilmer as Perry and Michelle Monoghan as Harmony also give good performances, but the range Downey gives from smarmy and casual to emotional and serious is stunning, one of the best parts of the movie.However, that particular range can be said for the movie as a whole; it always feels like these are actual people talking and interacting with one another, not people on a screen. This is thanks to Black's outstanding screenplay, with dialogue rivaling Tarantino's level of novelty and realism. There are some writing traits that can grate with repetition (one guy has a sarcastic response to a somewhat legitimate question, followed by "of course it is."), but the writing never loses it's charm from it.The story is a basic mystery deal, but with plenty of subversion and the tongue-in-cheek style to keep things interesting. Lockhart literally tells the story to the audience, pointing out certain clichés and devices with full self-awareness. Plenty of other clichés fall apart on their own to hilarious effect, but some are strangely played straight with no mention or reconstruction. They don't hurt the movie greatly, but they're noticeable enough to feel out of place.Overall, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is bolstered by a slick script and a standout performance, full of excitement that doesn't feel said and done. Shane Black made his name with this movie, and it's one worth remembering.

thesar-2 Looks like I got another fantastic Christmas movie to add to my annual holiday viewings. Just too bad I saw it a month (or a decade) late.Funny about this movie, for me anyways: this is my third and final attempt to watch it a first time. Years ago, I started and stopped 20 minutes in. I wasn't a fan of Val Kilmer and it was before I really started to appreciate Robert Downey Jr. So, unbelievably, I was put off by this movie and never thought I would pick up this "novel" of a film again. That is, until a friend recommended it to me and I've been hearing others mention it with positive words.Ah, but there's two more attempts. Last night, I watched about 90% of it before passing out – one should never watch this under the influence. Case in point: I got so lost, thought it was too crazy and, well, I didn't have much choice but to sleep with only 10% remaining. Today: instead of picking back up at the climax, I rewound (if us old-timers can still call it that) it and began at the beginning for the third time.That really helped. Well, that and the lack of booze. I already really liked the dialogue – finding myself laughing out loud and marveling at Downey Jr.'s awesome wit/timing – but, now I could follow the mystery from all the clues I might have even missed sober.What an incredible little gem. It is a travesty that this movie BARELY made its money back and that would have to include its worldwide box- office receipts. Maybe it was too confusing for some – like my second, albeit further along, attempt. I dunno. This movie is amazing.Downey Jr.'s smalltime crook Harry inadvertently gets thrown into an L.A. story of intrigue where he reunites with an old flame (or dame? well, since this is basically film noir) and teams with his obviously first gay human being he's ever met, appropriately, a private dick, to solve multiple murders and survive themselves.What sounds like the typical mystery, and believe me, if they stopped there, it'd still be great, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang really delivered on the humor, fantastic witticisms and chemistry between the leads. Like I previously mentioned, I didn't used to be a Kilmer fan, but seeing him in the MacGruber movie a couple of years back, I started to rethink my opinion of him. And he was pretty good himself. Downey Jr., of course and as usual, stole every scene. Not complaining, I loved them both here.The surprise for me was the always lovely, drop-dead gorgeous and talented Michelle Monaghan. I first discovered her in Mission: Impossible III and loved her. Not into girls, but dang she is hot. Then, I was happy she was in the incredible Source Code, which was already a great movie, and she only helped propel it. I wish I'd see more of her and because I like her so much, she is forgiven for Pixels. Only her – the rest of that crap cast's obviously is going to hell.I digress. I really loved this movie. It needs to be seen by more people. Especially those who jumped on the Downey Jr. Iron Man bandwagon. Here's a tip: he was already wonderful before he Avenged the world. SEE: Wonder Boys. This too. See this too, but also Wonder Boys. Okay, see all his works. He's just as amazing as this movie. ***Final thoughts: Half-way through attempt two of this film, I was reminded by one of my all-time favorite movies: L.A. Confidential and was shocked to learn I didn't own it on Blu. So, naturally, I had to pause this and buy it through Amazon. By that point, I didn't love this movie, or I certainly would've purchased this one, as well. Maybe when L.A. Confidential arrives and I revisit that classic, I'll pause that half way through and buy a couple of kisses and shots. That came out weird