Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this movie contains explicit violence, nudity, swearing, and drug use. It's not appropriate for kids and teens.
Families can talk about remaining true to one's convictions in difficult or out-of-the-ordinary situations. When, if ever, is the use of violence "okay?" Is it ever acceptable to tell lies or steal?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Maria Llull
Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) is the main character and narrator of KISS KISS BANG BANG, a fragmented and jumpy flick about a guy, a girl, and a gay private detective. The action takes place in Los Angeles and is fraught with beautiful people, comic books, and violence.
Harry is a thief who inadvertently stumbles into a screen test and gets a role as a private detective. As research for the role, the movie company arranges for him to spend time with a real P.I., Gay Perry (Val Kilmer). Things start to get out of hand for Harry and Perry when a mysterious client sets them up to witness some men dumping a body in a lake.
And then there's the girl...Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan) is probably the strongest and most interesting character in the movie. This becomes frustrating when we're given enough of her past to hold our interest, but then her storyline falls apart into choppy confusion. Harry's in love with her but hasn't seen her since they were kids.
Harmony, Harry, and Perry are brought together by the deaths of two young girls, one of whom is Harmony's sister. Were both deaths murders or was one a suicide? What motive would anyone have to kill either one of the girls? And why do scary men with guns seem to turn up everywhere? These are the questions that move the film along its fast-paced storyline.
Robert Downey Jr. is fun to watch, but he plays the neurotic, caring Harry the way some people might play a dope fiend. His character can be touching and sincere, but at the same time, he doesn't seem real. As Gay Perry, Val Kilmer delivers crude, self-deprecating one-liners about being homosexual, an existence that he seems to flaunt for the sole purpose of being resentful of it. His character lacks the nuance necessary to make him believable.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is entertaining at times but lacks something that would make it a great movie. It tries to be hip, but hip is more than snazzy lines told by flippant, sexy people who shoot each other. A little more substance and care, and this movie would have been much better.
Families who like this movie might also enjoy Gothika or Pulp Fiction .
Rate It!
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| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual ContentNudity, sexual situations. A main character is gay. |
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ViolenceViolent killing; dead bodies; dismemberment. |
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LanguageLots of cussing, including all the big "four-letter words." |
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Message |
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Social BehaviorKilling, lying, stealing, etc. |
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Commercialism |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoDrinking, smoking, some drugs. |
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