It snuck into theaters a couple weeks ago, and at the rate it's going, it's going to sneak right back out again in less time... but I went to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang this afternoon, and I'm very glad I did. Outside of Serenity, it's the best movie I've seen in quite some time. Like Serenity, it somehow got lost in the shuffle and really deserves to be seen by more people.
After nearly two decades of trying to be in "serious" movies, Val Kilmer finally gets back to doing comedy, which he did so brilliantly in Top Secret and Real Genius. And Robert Downey Jr. has always been great on screen, even if in real life he's a complete mess. The two make a great pairing for a humorous but loving take on the private eye genre. It has action, it has mystery, it has a neat plot, one of the best uses of voice-over in film I've seen in years, and more funny lines than you can possibly remember.
At this point, it may well be too late to catch it "at a theater near you." But this movie gets my enthusiastic recommendation, and you should be watching for it on DVD if nothing else. Definitely an A. Which I suppose means I might have to do some thinking about where it might fall on my top 100 list, since I honestly think some of the films near the bottom of that list would probably only rate an A-.
5 comments:
I wondered about that film, being a detective fan and all. Downey is a downer for me too, but that doesn't mean he can't turn in a good performance. Thanks for the review! :)
Now I want to see it too... Perhaps I can catch it as well... Who knows?
Shocho, I was thinking of you in particular as I sat to write about this movie. I'm fairly certain you would enjoy it.
Is this going to be the next Ruben and Ed?
That was my first choice of a movie to see today, but my friends and I ended up seeing Capote today. That was certainly an interesting and intense movie, but I think Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang would have been far more entertaining.
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