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'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang' a
short, funny ride of a thriller
Actors Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer form a
dynamic tandem as they investigate a murder
BY CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP MOVIE CRITIC
“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” is as much
fun as the title suggests, and packed
with banter that rolls off the tongue
just as easily.
Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer
— known for their strong personali
ties both on and off screen — bounce
off each other with the ease and com
fort of an old comedy team. The de
livery is often so quick and deadpan,
you may have to go back and see it a
second time, just to catch the lines
you missed while you were laughing.
Downey plays thief-turned-actor
Harry Lockhart, who unexpectedly
finds himself cast as a detective in a
movie screen test; Kilmer is a private
eye known as Gay Perry (because
he’s gay, hence the name), who
works as a Hollywood consultant
and has been hired to train him.
Together they end up having to
solve a real murder in Los Angeles
with the help of Harmony Faith Lane
(the kittenish Michelle Monaghan), a
femme fatale/wannabe actress who
happens to have been Harry’s child
hood crush when they were growing
up in a small Indiana town — with
dreams of stardom, naturally.
It would appear that all the ele
ments are in place for a stylish, old
school film noir, but writer Shane
Black, directing for the first time, sub
verts the genre while simultaneously
embracing it. That idea alone could
have been overbearingly smug in its
self-aware hipness; look no further
than the title, which the film shares
with a collection of reviews by none
other than the late, great Pauline
Kael. Instead, the result is a comedy
thriller hybrid that’s silly, smart and
never, ever dull.
This should come as no surprise
coming from Black, who pioneered
the concept of such cinematic cross
pollination when he wrote the origi
nal “Lethal Weapon,” a mix of fast
paced action and even faster laughs,
of two cops with nothing in common
but the bad guys they’re chasing.
“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” is, however,
surprising in itself — or at least in the
absurdity of some of its imagery.
Just to give you an idea, this is a
movie in which a woman’s body is
wrapped in a sheet, dropped from the
roof of a boutique hotel, then shoved
in the trunk of a car — and it’s played
for laughs. It’s a movie in which a
character’s finger is cut off not once
but twice before being consumed by
a shaggy dog who presumes it’s a
treat — then gets a sad, needy hug
from the finger’s former owner. It’s a
movie that features a barely seen
supporting figure named Flicka,
seemingly for the sole purpose of set
ting up a “My Friend Flicka” joke.
Harry, as our narrator — “My
name is Harry Lockhart, I’ll be your
narrator,” he congenially announces
at the film’s start — is fully aware of
the conventions of the hard-boiled
detective tale he inhabits, and he’s
aware that we’re aware of them, too.
And he has such a good time playing
with them, it’s impossible not get
swept up in the movie’s manic ener
gy
Harry and Gay Perry naturally
don’t like each other at first, but even
the way they argue has a certain
fondness about it. “Stop dripping,”
Perry suggests matter-of-factly when
a soaking-wet Harry drips all over the
interior of his car. “Die,” is the cheery
way he bids Harry good night.
The beauty of the way Perry is
written — and the way Kilmer plays
him — is that he’s never a flamboy
ant stereotype; he’s a veteran detec
tive who just happens to like other
men. And it’s easy to forget that long
before his better-known heavy roles
in movies like “The Doors,” The
Saint” and “Wonderland,” Kilmer got
his start with rapid-fire comedies in
the mid—’80s like "Top Secret” and
“Real Genius.”
Downey, meanwhile, has always
shown himself to be a master of dry,
low-key humor — look at “Wonder
Boys,” the under-appreciated “Two
Girls and a Guy” or his Emmy-nomi
nated supporting work on “Ally
McBeal.” He’s an ideal fit for this'
kind of role: a sort of damaged figure
whose dark sense of humor keeps
him together.
“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” gets too
dark itself toward the end, in a way
that makes it feel like an entirely dif
ferent movie, and seems irretrievable.
But it recovers, and ultimately goes
out with a bang.
“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” a Warner
Bros. Pictures release, is rated R for
language, violence and sexuality/nu
dity. Running time: 103 minutes.
Three stars out of four.
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& CAR Rental
342-6161
www.lucasmotorco.com
Wheels.
Open Monday to Friday 8-6, Saturday 8-5, Sunday 10 -5
at the Lucas Motor Company Showroom
380 Goodpasture island Road in the Valley River AUTO Center
• 7,12 & 15 seat passenger vans
• Sport utility 4x4 vehicles & cargo vans
• Sporty compacts luxury cars &
• FREE customer pick-up (local area only)
• Low daily, weekly & monthly rates
• Credit cash or cash deposits
• ALL DRIVERS MUST BE 21 OR OLDER
• Does not include taxes or surcharges. Offer may not be used in conjunction with any other promotional offers.
Limit one coupon per customer and one coupon per rental.
1097 Willamette St.
Eugene, OR
541-345-6465
Fog: Remake unnecessary
Continued from page 3B
Leigh. And it had Carpenter’s then
wife, Adrienne Barbeau, in all her
curvaceous glory. Shouldn’t we just
leave the memory of that shining in
the distance?
This new “Fog” stays pretty true to
its roots, though. A hundred years af
ter the founding of a small coastal
town, a thick fog rolls in night after
night, knocking out electricity, de
stroying boats, causing car accidents
and — oh, yeah — sucking people
through glass windows like cat fur
through a vacuum cleaner.
Ttying to escape this madness are
hunky fishing-boat captain Nick Cas
tle (played by that hunky Welling
from “Smallville”), his ex-girlfriend,
Elizabeth (Grace, in Curtis’ old role),
and the town’s sultry radio DJ, Stevie
(Blair, filling in for Barbeau).
Things get pretty bombastic to
ward the end — people and objects
spontaneously combust, shattered
glass noisily flies everywhere — as
the town’s dark history is revealed.
Apparently, stealing land from lepers
wasn’t such a good idea.
But it’s still a good old-fashioned
ghost story, and you really can’t go
wrong with that, no matter how hard
you try.
“The Fog,” a Columbia Pictures re
lease, is rated PG-13 for violence, dis
turbing images and brief sexuality.
Running time: 103 minutes. One and
a half stars out of four.
North: Movie lacks depth
Continued from page 7B
carries a grudge against her years lat
er and takes twisted advantage of his
workplace authority.
Complaining of harassment seems
futile, since the mine is the town’s
sole source of sustenance and even
the women want it to continue thriv
ing under any circumstances. Even
Josey’s own son turns against her,
having given in to the vicious gossip
generated to silence her.
Thily, it must have been hell. But is
it possible that everyone in town could
be so single-mindedly insensitive?
Actually, there are two exceptions:
Glory’s husband, Kyle (Sean Bean),
who no longer works at the mine be
cause of an injury, and Bill White
(Woody Harrelson), a high school
hockey hero who’s come back home
after living in New York as a lawyer.
Bill turns Josey down when she first
comes to him with the idea of filing a
class-action lawsuit against the mine.
But he changes his mind and even
tually agrees to take the case — not
out of any sense of moral outrage or
righteous indignation, just because it
had never been done before.
At least his inclination is honest,
which can’t be said for everyone
else’s behavior as the film draws to
a maudlin close.
“North Country,” a Warner Bros.
Pictures release, is rated R for se
quences involving sexual harassment
including violence and dialogue, and
for language. Running time: 105 min
utes. Two and a half stars out of four.