The inventor of cliches.
0 Comments Published by Jesse Trussell on Thursday, November 24, 2005 at 9:12 PM.
Shane Black's new film, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, is both the best action film and the best comedy of the year. An absolute blast of a self parody, the man who created the Hollywood action-comedy has now come out of retirement to skewer himself and his imitators.
Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan all deliver hilarious performances, perhaps the best of the first two actor's careers. Downey's narrator leads us through the seedy story of cross and double cross in LA, and his self knowing narration brings us in from the first frames.
Shane Black knows all the beats, he wrote them first. So his playful attack of Hollywood action films are hilarious and acutely observed. In a way this is both a genre reimagining and a career culmination for Black, as it pulls together his classic buddy cop schtick, but twists it and applies it to the film noir.
It can't be said enough just how hilarious Kiss Kiss is, even funnier than Apatow's The 40 Year Old Virgin earlier in the year. Both Downey and Kilmer are wonderful comic actors (Back to School and Real Genius, anyone?) and I wish they would do more work in this vein. Michelle Monaghan is wonderful as well, and I wish the film were doing better to act as a launching pad for her.
For some reason, people aren't going to see Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. This is a travesty. Honestly, see this film if it is anywhere near you. Well worth any price.
Current 2005 Top 10:
1. A History of Violence
2. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
3. Broken Flowers
4. Grizzly Man
5. The Constant Gardener
6. Last Days
7. Hustle & Flow
8. Kung Fu Hustle
9. The 40 Year Old Virgin
10. Batman Begins
Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan all deliver hilarious performances, perhaps the best of the first two actor's careers. Downey's narrator leads us through the seedy story of cross and double cross in LA, and his self knowing narration brings us in from the first frames.
Shane Black knows all the beats, he wrote them first. So his playful attack of Hollywood action films are hilarious and acutely observed. In a way this is both a genre reimagining and a career culmination for Black, as it pulls together his classic buddy cop schtick, but twists it and applies it to the film noir.
It can't be said enough just how hilarious Kiss Kiss is, even funnier than Apatow's The 40 Year Old Virgin earlier in the year. Both Downey and Kilmer are wonderful comic actors (Back to School and Real Genius, anyone?) and I wish they would do more work in this vein. Michelle Monaghan is wonderful as well, and I wish the film were doing better to act as a launching pad for her.
For some reason, people aren't going to see Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. This is a travesty. Honestly, see this film if it is anywhere near you. Well worth any price.
Current 2005 Top 10:
1. A History of Violence
2. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
3. Broken Flowers
4. Grizzly Man
5. The Constant Gardener
6. Last Days
7. Hustle & Flow
8. Kung Fu Hustle
9. The 40 Year Old Virgin
10. Batman Begins
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