thePeanutBloggery

Imagine removing Jack Nicholson’s character Jake from Chinatown and replacing him with the Dude from The Big Lebowski. Then throw in some Quentin Tarantino violence and banter, and the product might look a lot like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Robert Downey Jr. (who seemingly can do no wrong onscreen) stars as Harry Lockhart, a burglar who literally stumbles into a movie audition while fleeing the cops. The next thing he knows, he’s in Hollywood. When his agent sets him up with PI to the stars Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) to help him develop his character, he finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery straight out of the detective novels he read as a kid. The result is a buddy movie in the tradition of Stakeout and Lethal Weapon (which isn’t surprising as writer/director Shane Black also penned the screenplays for the Lethal Weapon movies).

Criminally, this is Val Kilmer’s first comedy since the 1985 cult classic Real Genius, and if feels a little like a homecoming. While Gay Perry is certainly gay, Kilmer plays him as anything but jazz-hands gay. He’s laconic and mean, much more of a Jack Palance than a Jack McFarland. No, I didn’t hate him as Jim Morrison or even Batman, but I love him as Gay Perry, so it would be terrible if I had to wait another 20 years for his next comedy.

Chances are good you missed it in the theater – most people did – so spend this Friday night in with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and enjoy the comic chemistry of Downy and Kilmer. Hey, you never know when one of them might disappear again.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is available on HBO On Demand until March 25.