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Preview by: Jack Foley
SHANE Black used to be the king of the mis-matched buddy-cop
action thriller.
Films like Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout rate among the
most pleasurable of their time and paved the way for countless
imitations.
But having written so many crackers, Black went quiet for a while
to the dismay of many an action junkie.
His return, as both writer and now director, is Kiss Kiss Bang
Bang, a hip spin on the buddie formula that is said to provide
career resurrecting roles for both Robert Downey Jnr and Val Kilmer.
The former plays Harry Lockhart, a small-time conman who unwittingly
finds himself auditioning for a part in a Hollywood action movie
while trying to get out of trouble.
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After impressing at said audition,
Lockhart is sent for some pre-shooting preparation with PI Perry
van Shrike (Val Kilmer).
But Harry's work experience winds up proving a little too close
to home when the murder mystery they're investigating seems to
involve the sister of his old school sweetheart.
Having taken a 10-year hiatus from the movie industry, Black
puts his insider knowledge to terrific use for Kiss Kiss Bang
Bang, a thriller in all senses of the word that continues to draw
rave reviews from whoever has seen it.
The London Film Festival website, for instance, acknowledges
it as being 'savvy and cineliterate, funny and foul mouthed, flattering
the audience by assuming we're as knowing as its unreliable narrator'.
Downey Jr is said to provide his best work since Wonder Boys,
while Kilmer is in career redefining form, revealing perfect comic
timing as 'Gay Perry'.
The film is a sell-out at the festival but hits cinema screens
in November - as one of autumn's must-see movies.
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