More 'Bang' for your buck

If big budget, over-the-top action movies are your drug of choice, then chances are you're familiar with the work of Shane Black. You see, during the late 1980s and early '90s, Black was the highest paid action film scribe ever. He jumped onto the scene with his witty script for the hugely successful "Lethal Weapon" and then penned all three sequels that followed. He helped keep Bruce Willis' career afloat with the extremely over-the-top, testosterone fueled "The Last Boy Scout," did a Schwarzenegger flick with "Last Action Hero" and even managed to fit in some acting (you might remember him as Hawkins in the "welcome to the jungle" sci-fi alien hunting action film "Predator"). "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," the film that marks Black's directorial debut, is his homage/satirical look at the kind of big budget, extreme action films that made him a Hollywood powerhouse. And it's really good. \n"Kiss Kiss" tells the story of Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.), a fast talking, savvy thief from New York who stumbles into an acting audition by accident and ends up in L.A. training with a private eye named Gay Perry (Val Kilmer). Perry begins working a murder case involving a rich Hollywood son of a bitch (Corbin Bernsen) and a naïve girl from Indiana. While the plot sounds ridiculous, extreme and a bit confusing (and it is all of these things) "Kiss Kiss" actually does a fairly good job landing a coherent mystery story by the end of the film.\nThe film is narrated by Lockhart who spends much of the time trying to figure out why he is in L.A. to begin with while also talking to the audience about stereotypical action movie themes and characters. While the film could have been nothing more than yet another action movie for his canon, Black chooses to use this film as a way to comment on the American blockbusters that made him a millionaire.\nThe film is extremely well written and each actor brings something different to the roles. Downey Jr. has always been somewhat of a nervous character actor, but here, even when he is ranting to the camera during his narration montages, he seems very comfortable with the role. Kilmer's Gay Perry treads the waters of gay stereotypes in film but chances are this was the point of his role. \n"Kiss Kiss" did horribly upon its theatrical release last year and hopefully its recent DVD release will garner it with the cult film status it deserves. The film is very funny, has its share of good old-fashioned American film action and also says a lot about Hollywood social/film politics. \nThe single-disc DVD is minimal but does feature a great commentary track by Black, Kilmer and Downey Jr., and a fairly amusing gag reel. The commentary track is the real gem here though as the players comment on the film's unbelievably low budget for an action film, bizarre stories from the set and of course, some of Black's twisted and funny intentions with some of the characters.\n"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is not for everyone. Those interested in seeing an average popcorn action flick may be turned off by the film's satirical ways and some of the humor may be too dark or twisted for some. This being said, people should still give this film a shot. It is smart, never once insulting our intelligence, is well acted and above all, is funny.