Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Making his auteur debut with the neo-noir comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, erstwhile screenwriting wunderkind Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) is back. Set in the rolling hills of Hollyweird on Christmas Eve, the film begins with a series of flashbacks as burglar manqué Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) voices over how he met private dick Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) and solved the case of the poor little dead socialite. With loads of great standalone lines such as “I was wetter than Drew Barrymore at a grunge club” and absurdist set pieces, Black matches his loose and conversational writing style and propensity for breaking the Fourth Wall (addressing his audience directly) with his directorial approach here. Virtually unnoticed upon its release, this wiseacre thriller was an ill-distributed gem, but is almost certain to build a cult status with its recent release on DVD.