DVD: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

There are few films that are too clever for their own good but many that are ruined by being nowhere near as clever as they think they are. The tongue in cheek narration that guides us through Kiss Kiss Bang Bang often veers towards smug and self congratulatory ground but the sharpness of the script and the frequency of one liners means that you will end up amused rather than annoyed.

Lethal Weapon writer Shane Black has taken what appears to be a pulpy noir detective novel and covered the cliche ridden set-up and far fetched plot with a fast past knock-about script that sees small time crook Robert Downey Jr end up partnered with Val Kilmer's butch gay private eye. Nothing really makes much sense during the film and like the best of Raymond Chandler's work by the end you don't even care whodunnit, but laugh you will.