Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

2005 neo-noir

Rating: 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.