2005 neo-noirRating: 15/20
Plot: Professional thief Harry Lockhart dives into a movie audition to avoid arrest and winds up getting the part of a private detective. He attends a party where he runs into his childhood crush and meets Perry, a real private eye hired by the movie producers to let Harry tag along to see what the life is like. All three become involved in a murder mystery.
I suppose this is one of those cases where the story just doesn't matter all that much. The narrative is neither coherent or interesting, but the characters are colorfully cool and the dialogue is fresh. This has the pacing of a Lebowski which I like although it suffers from too many trendy touches and random stylistic dickery. I don't think Downey completely works as a narrator in this, but his character is likable in a sort of unlikable way. This is the type of story where you feel almost jerked around by the twists, like you're on a carnival Tilt-a-Wheel while wearing your trendiest jeans, but it's never in a way that induced either vertigo or vomiting. I just wish the tale was told with a little less gloss and glitter, maybe with one less "bang" in the title. It's a fun flick, but it needed some gristle.
4 comments:
Val made this movie. I need to see it again.
This movie was a lot of fun. I loved the noir-ish set up.
It was a Shane Black script, so you kind of know what to expect.
I agree, 15/20.
It is kind of a case of style over substance (the climax is over-he-top), but I enjoyed watching it, and I loved what they did to the bad guy in the end. A 15, as well.
The 'Gay Perry" joke was such shit, but it was still pretty clever to get it to work.
I own it. For me, it's a 'gets better the more you watch it' thing.
Like Blade II and Moving.
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