Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

A narrator introduces himself at a Hollywood party: he's Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.), a thief from New York, in L.A. for a screen test. He meets Gay Perry (Val Kilmer), a glitzy private eye who's to school him for his role; then there's Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan), a wannabe actress whose time has passed; the host is an aging actor who starred in detective movies, plus his daughter, with starlet looks and a choppy past. The next day, hilarity ensues as Gay and Harry stake out a house where Gay is to take surreptitious photographs for a client - what they find is a corpse. From there, twists and connections abound and bodies pile up. Who's double-crossing whom? And, has Harry found Harmony too late to save himself from misery?

Trivia: Val Kilmer had to quickly lose the 50 pounds gained for his plump role in Oliver Stone's Alexander (2004) in order to play his fit GQ character for this film. Gay Perry's cell phone ring tone is "I will survive". Warner Bros. was willing to produce the movie with a larger budget if Harrison Ford were to play the detective. When he passed, several other options were briefly considered before Val Kilmer was offered the role. Shane Black read several stories by Raymond Chandler when writing this script. As a result, the story is divided into chapters and the chapter titles come from Chandler works. Incorporates footage of Corbin Bernsen from Dead Aim (1987) in order to show his character Harlan Dexter as a young actor portraying "Johnny Gossamer". As a sign of support to Robert Downey Jr.'s recovery from alcohol and drugs, Val Kilmer refused to drink during the entire production.

Mick picked this movie for me to watch because he guessed one of my alphabet movies. This is a pretty unique movie in that it doesn't take itself seriously. Or at least Robert Downey Jr.'s narrator doesn't take the movie seriously and that is what makes it fun to watch. He will stop the film and restart it at a different place because he forgot to tell you something, he'll make fun of other movies and even make fun of his own movie. Which brings me to Robert Downey Jr. It is really a shame that he keeps having so many problems with drugs because he is a great actor, I like him in everything he has been in so far. His characters are always so fun to watch. Val Kilmer is always calm, cool, and collected. And Michelle Monaghan is pretty good looking, which is nice.