I’ll borrow a line from Roger Ebert’s review of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Shane Black, 2005) to begin my own: “half film noir and half smart-ass.”

Yep, that about sums it up.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang does indeed pay homage to film noir. (This is why I wanted to watch the film in the first place. Well, that and RDJr.) For example, every act is given the title of one of Raymond Chandler’s works of pulp fiction (Lady in the Lake, Farewell My Lovely, etc.). As well, the film takes place at night, and there are murders (and murderers) galore. Finally, dialogue shoots out of the mouths of Downey and Val Kilmer at lightening-fast speed. However, only some of it may be considered witty (e.g., “Wow, I feel sore. I mean physically, not like a guy who’s angry in a movie in the 1950s”); and very little of it can hold a candle to the conversations between Phyllis Dietrichson and Walter Neff (Double Indemnity, 1944), for example. Case in point:

Walter: Same chair, same perfume, same anklet?
Phyllis: I wonder if I know what you mean.
Walter: I wonder if you wonder.

Phyllis: I think you’re rotten.
Walter: I think you’re swell–so long as I’m not your husband.
Phyllis: Get out of here.
Walter: You bet I’ll get out of here, baby. I’ll get out of here but quick.

Ahh, what dialogue, what delivery.

Unfortunately, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang also haughtily revels in its own self-reflexivity: like Jane Eyre (“dear reader”), Downey’s character periodically talks directly to us! And sometimes when he stops talking, the movie freezes in mid-frame! Wow! How neat! How novel! Here’s the narrator at the end of the narrative, speaking directly into the camera, attempting to bridge one final connection between viewer and film: “Thanks for coming, please stay for the end credits, if you’re wondering who the best boy is, it’s somebody’s nephew. Um, don’t forget to validate your parking, and to all you good people in the Midwest, sorry we said fuck so much.”

But I think my main problem with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is that it “makes no attempt at coherence” (I quote Ebert again). The TWO stories/murders–ya’ get it? Two Kisses, two Bangs?!–are held together by a thread; and I’m still not exactly sure how they are connected. Perhaps, like Ebert, I should watch it twice?

Yes! Maybe a second screening is just what the director intended. Get it?! Two Kisses, two Bangs…two viewings?