Robert Downey Jr.as Harry LockhartThe story
About Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
A small-time thief, fleeing a botched burglary, stumbles into a screen test and is flown across America over Christmas to prepare for a detective role. Paired with a sardonic private investigator for research, he is quickly dragged into a real murder, and into the life of a struggling actress he grew up with. Shane Black's debut plays hard-boiled crime for laughs against a backdrop of showbiz parties and fairy lights.
The CineClaus verdict
Shane Black's first film as director counts as Christmas mainly because the calendar says so.
The trees and fairy lights are there, but the murder plot would run the same in March. What it has instead is Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer trading insults at a pace most comedies never manage, and a script that takes the detective story apart for fun.
It is also more violent, and much darker under the jokes, than it first lets on. America shrugged; Britain paid attention. Make it the opener of a Shane Black double bill with The Long Kiss Goodnight.
The family desk
Can the kids watch?
Our take: the BBFC 15 is given for strong language, but there is also torture played for laughs, a severed finger, several fatal shootings and some genuinely dark backstory, so this is one for older teenagers and up.
BBFC advice: Contains strong language.
Content advice & accessibility
- Where the advice comes from
- The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
- Our age guidance
- Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.
