Benedito Dias Rodrigues Palatable dark comedy with a couple top stars,and surviving from them,there so many holes,point-blank which reachs a dead end,but enjoyable and hurts when is funny literally speakiing.....contrived most of time could be better if the lead female role was played by some famous actress,but a nature of the movie is easy to like and don't cause any regret certanly...far away that!!ResumeFirst watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

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

Charles Herold (cherold) Directory Shane Black seems to have decided it was possible to make a film noir film that is also a parody of film noir films, and he turns out to have been right. Divided into chapters titled after Raymond Chandler novels, the film follows petty criminal turned aspiring actor Downey as he gets involved with a witty detective (excellently played by Kilmer) and a sexy actress (Monaghan).Downey is a bit of a sad sack into the movie, clueless and rash, and while his performance is quite different, it reminded me a bit of Bob Hope film noir take-offs. The movie often mocks film conventions, most notably with Downey's sloppy narration, and while it is sometimes overly gimmicky, I generally thought it worked.Unlike those old Hope movies, KKBB takes its noir seriously. The plot is complex and moves fast but actually holds up much better than Chandler's often incomprehensible stories, and the action and suspense are very well done, both exciting and funny. The film takes the noir conventions it likes but tosses the ones that seem archaic; in a 40s movie Monaghan would have been a mysterious femme fatale, but here she's more an action- hero version of Nancy Drew.I'm kind of torn between giving this movie a 7 and an 8. I really like it, but somehow I never quite *loved* it, perhaps because the gimmicky stuff distances you from the visceral stuff. But it's really enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

Scott LeBrun Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) is a small time thief who bungles his way into a gig as an actor. He's sent to LA, to work with a private eye named "Gay Perry" (Val Kilmer) who does consultation work for the movies. He runs into the extremely enticing aspiring actress Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), whom he manages to convince that he is an actual detective, and gets mixed up in a case Perry is working involving Harmony's kid sister and Harlan Dexter (Corbin Bernsen), a former actor turned entrepreneur.Taking his inspiration from a novel by Brett Halliday, writer & debuting director Shane Black of "Lethal Weapon" fame basically sends up pulp detective fiction and the ever-popular "buddy- cop" genre. There are definitely some flashes of wit throughout, although the script isn't always terribly funny. Some of the gags are entirely obvious (such as when Black and Downey Jr. break the fourth wall and make fun of the conventions and clichés of filmmaking), but they still generate some chuckles. The script also works in digs at the way English speaking people don't always use the proper grammar. The banter between our two leads is consistent, and Black gives his movie some good pacing, and the widescreen photography is just right.There is a solid cast at work here; besides Bernsen and the lovely Monaghan, we have the comedian Larry Miller, Dash Mihok and Rockmond Dunbar as a pair of goons named "Frying Pan" and "Fire", and the cute Shannyn Sossamon. But what makes "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" easy enough to watch is the chemistry between Downey Jr. and Kilmer, who are an amusing comedy pair. Downey Jr. also co-wrote and sang the end credits song! Some fun darkly comic bits include the mangling of Downey Jrs.' finger.At the very end, Downey Jr. and Kilmer are able to send the viewers away with a smile.Six out of 10.