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'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang': Gumshoe chemistry class

Although Shane Black's mother surely scolded him for being a smart-aleck, he found a way to turn that character flaw into a career.

The screenwriter generally credited — or is that blamed? — for inventing the smart-mouthed cop buddy picture with the Lethal Weapon franchise has now taken that formula and stood it on its ear with the aggressively self-conscious, tongue-in-cheek Hollywood noir, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Warner Brothers Pictures 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang' B+ The verdict: A buddy picture on speed, with a hip, self-conscious sense of humor. Director: Shane Black Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen Run time: 102 minutes Release date: Oct. 21, 2005 Rating: R for language, violence and sexuality/nudity. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Making his directorial debut by spinning a story that is too convoluted and too clever by half, Black never lets us forget that we are watching a movie. For starters, there is the jokey narration by Robert Downey, Jr., as Harry Lockhart, a two-bit, hard-bitten New York burglar, who stumbles into a movie audition while casing a heist and lands the part because of his perceived authentic line readings.

Beyond the narration, Black occasionally stops the projector, backs up and starts over scenes, pauses for superfluous chapter titles or has Downey comment on each inelegant turn of phrase. Anything, it seems, to distract us from the film's plot, which really is the least of Kiss Kiss' assets.

In Los Angeles to make the movie he has been hired for, Harry is issued an instant buddy in private eye Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) — cue the homosexual gags — on whom Harry is encouraged to model his performance.

Chemistry is essential in a buddy flick and Downey and Kilmer bounce off each other well, perhaps because neither seems to be taking this gig the least bit seriously. Both notoriously difficult actors, they give the crucial illusion of having great fun.

The plot, for what it is worth, involves Harry reconnecting with an old high school crush, an actress wannabe named Harmony (winsome Michelle Monaghan, seen briefly in North Country). She is fixated on a series of pulp detective novels and then finds herself in a real-life version of one, as her sister turns up dead — more than once — and it falls to Harry to keep disposing of the body. Those deaths are just a symptom of larger wrongdoings, but trying to keep it all straight is not a productive viewer exercise.

Just go for the banter, for the running gag of Harry's frustrations of trying to bed Harmony, for the excruciating subplot of Harry's severed finger and for the novel uses of Los Angeles as a location backdrop. The city is far too overexposed as a movie site, but Black manages to show it off in refreshing ways.

Plenty of actors could have played Harry, but few could be as rumpled, world-weary and charming as Downey. Kilmer seems to have to work harder at becoming Perry, with one foot outside the character and winking all the way, but he too makes that approach succeed.

Besides knowing L.A., Black knows the detective genre and he kids it mercilessly. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang actually is based on a novel by Brett Halliday, but the Raymond Chandler estate might want to apply for a piece of the royalties. It is insubstantial and smart-alecky, which is meant as a compliment.