History Film / KissKissBangBang

-->'''Harry''': Don't worry, I saw ''[[TheLordOfTheRings {{Lord of the Rings}}]]''. I'm not going to end this seventeen times.

-->'''Harry''': Don't worry, I saw ''{{Lord of the Rings}}''. I'm not going to end this seventeen times.

* ParallelPornTitles: {{Parodied|Trope}}; Harmony's colleague hides a pirated movie for her in a "[[Film/LordOfTheRings Lord of the Cock-rings]]" box.

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler: Subverted Trope.]]

** [[spoiler: Harlan Dexter and his daughter]], {{Lampshaded}} viciously by Harry during his narration.

* {{Metaphorgotten}}: When the mooks at the Christmas party appear: [[note]]For the record, "Ike and Mike" are old-timey nicknames for salt and pepper, so "Ike, Mike and Mustard" are your standard-issue diner condiments. It's also a metaphor-whin-a-metaphor: "salt and pepper" is slang for white-black mixed-race pairing, which the mooks are, which makes ''Harry'' the mustard. The term itself makes sense, but the metaphor itself is still distorted.[[/note]]

* RealityEnsues: See FalseRoulette above.

''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'' is a WorldOfSnark BlackComedy, acting as a self-aware parody of pulp detective novels and FilmNoir. Narrated by the [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan]] and [[LemonyNarrator lemony]] Harry Lockhart, the film opens as Harry flees a crime scene into a movie audition. Having just witnessed his buddy being shot and killed, Harry suffers an emotional breakdown in front of the producer, who mistakes him for a professional [[MethodActing method actor]] and casts him in a DetectiveDrama.

* TrappedInASinkingCar: Harry tries to free a girl from the trunk of a sinking car. His desperate attempt to ShootOutTheLock of the trunk results in [[spoiler:giving the girl a headshot]]. NiceJobBreakingItHero.

->''Anyway, by now you may wonder [[HowWeGotHere how I wound up here]]. Or, maybe not. Maybe you wonder how silly putty picks shit up from comic books. The point is, [[LemonyNarrator I don't see another goddamn narrator]], so pipe down. ''

'''''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang''''' is a WorldOfSnark BlackComedy, acting as a self-aware parody of pulp detective novels and FilmNoir. Narrated by the [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan]] and [[LemonyNarrator lemony]] Harry Lockhart, the film opens as Harry flees a crime scene into a movie audition. Having just witnessed his buddy being shot and killed, Harry suffers an emotional breakdown in front of the producer, who mistakes him for a professional [[MethodActing method actor]] and casts him in a DetectiveDrama.

* NominalHero: Before [[CharacterDevelopment losing some of it]] near the end, Perry was this fused with Type II AntiHero.

* KnightInSourArmour: Perry - he's mildly corrupt in the way of all FilmNoir protagonists, but still does the right thing, despite [[DeadpanSnarker bitching the whole way]].

* TheSnarkKnight: Perry tries to pass himself off as this. ("I'm not a good guy.") It's evident that he's noble at his core.

* PlayingGertrude: Harry and Harmony are the same age. Robert Downey Junior is eleven years older than Michelle Monaghan, and could pass as her father.

* BrickJoke: The 35 year old actress Harmony makes fun of at the bar [[spoiler: reappears at the very end of the film starring in the same Generos beer commercial Harmony was in.]]
** After Harry rips on the use of the CoincidentalBroadcast trope (see below under ChekhovsGunman), a few scenes later he watches a new broadcast in which, for no good reason, the location of the climax is mentioned, exactly as Harry complained about earlier.
* BuffySpeak: Almost every time Harry has to explain something.

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: Harlan Dexter and his daughter]], {{Lampshaded}} viciously by Harry during his narration.

* GeniusDitz: Harry. Most often he's just TheDitz, but if any situation requires the hands of a magician-turned-thief, he's [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome definitely your guy]].
* GenreSavvy: References to Noir abound, and Harmony's extensive knowledge of pulp crime novels comes in handy. [[spoiler: There turns out to be a [[JustifiedTrope reason]] for that - Harlan Dexter, who played Johnny Gossamer in an old movie and has all those novels at his home, is behind the crime.]]

* GilliganCut: Complete with a subverted BadassBoast to a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown when Harmony's creepy date beats up the chivalrous Harry.

* HeroicSecondWind: [[spoiler: Harmony calls Harry and motivates him to [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome utterly destroy]] the BigBad and remaining Mooks, despite the fact he had [[OnlyAFleshWound just been shot]].]]

* OnlyAFleshWound: Harry. [[spoiler: A gunshot wound to the shoulder doesn't seem to slow him down at all in the final showdown.]]

* ParentalIncest: The reason Harmony leaves for L.A. is that [[CerebusRollercoaster her father is raping her little sister, Jenna.]]

** Director Shane Black has stated that the Literature/PhilipMarlowe books by Creator/RaymondChandler are a heavy influence on the movie; if the themes weren't apparent enough, [[ShownTheirWork every chapter is named after a Chandler book.]]
*** Specifically: "Trouble Is My Business", "The Lady In The Lake", "The Little Sister", "The Simple Art Of Murder", and "Farewell My Lovely".

** The title itself is a ShoutOut to both the [[HistoricalInJoke 60's slang]] for noir spy movies and the unused Film/{{Thunderball}} theme "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".
** Harmony's baseball bat has "Wonder Girl" written on it, acting as a reference to Roy's "Wonder Boy" bat in Film/TheNatural.
** The [[BuddyCopShow Buddy Cop]] script Harry reads involves a character telling another to "Go spit", referencing Film/LethalWeapon (which Shane Black [[MythologyGag previously wrote]]).

* AbusiveParents: '''Ubiquitous'''.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Loosely based on ''Bodies Are Where You Find Them'' by Brett Halliday; while the movie is somewhat obscure, the book is incredibly moreso.

* BreakingTheFourthWall:Harry's narration is conscious of the fact that he's narrating a film. In the end, Harry and Perry suddenly address the audience.

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Gay Perry]].

-->'''Harry''': Oookay, I apologize. That is a terrible scene, it's like ''"Why was that in the movie? Gee, you think [[ChekhovsGunman maybe it'll come back later]] maybe?" I hate that: a TV's on, talking about the new power plant -- hmm, wonder where the climax might happen.

* TakeThat: Harry gets several, mostly at other movies.

'''Harmony''': Denmark[[note]]In the state of Denmark[[/note]].

'''Mook 1''': You wanna know who we are? I'm the frying pan, see? And my boy over here, he's -\\

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Mr. Frying Pan and Mr. Fir - uh, Mustard.

'''''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang''''' is a WorldOfSnark BlackComedy, acting as a self-aware parody of pulp detective novels and FilmNoir. Narrated by the [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan]] and [[LemonyNarrator lemony]] Harry Lockhart, the film opens as Harry flees a crime scene into into a movie audition. Having just witnessed his buddy being shot and killed, Harry suffers an emotional breakdown in front of the producer, who mistakes him for a professional [[MethodActing method actor]] and casts him.

Sent to Hollywood for a screen test, Harry is partnered with a sassy, gay PrivateDetective called [[ShapedLikeItself "Gay"]] Perry to get a feel for his acting role. After stumbling upon childhood crush Harmony Lane, Harry heads on a routine stakeout with Perry; when the duo then inadvertently witnesses a body being dumped, they find themselves tangling with a surprisingly deep-rooted murder plot... [[GenreSavvy just like the pulp novels Harmony used to read as a kid.]]

Sent to Hollywood for a screen test, Harry is partnered with a sassy gay private eye [[ShapedLikeItself "Gay"]] Perry to get a feel for his acting role. After stumbling upon childhood crush Harmony Lane, Harry heads on a routine stakeout, they inadvertently witness a body being dumped, and find themselves tangling with a surprisingly deep-rooted murder plot... [[GenreSavvy just like the pulp novels Harmony used to read as a kid.]]

''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'' is a WorldOfSnark comedy-FilmNoir. The story is a parody of pulp detective novels set in the modern Hollywood entertainment scene. [[CriticalDissonance The film was a critical success, but a box-office bomb.]]

The film centers around -- and is narrated by -- Harry Lockhart (Creator/RobertDowneyJr), a down-on-his-luck thief who is mistaken for a method actor by a couple of movie producers after he barges into their auditions while fleeing from the cops. They send him to to Hollywood for a screen test where he encounters private eye "Gay" Perry (ValKilmer) and Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), his childhood crush from his own hometown. Perry is supposed to give Harry a few basic detective lessons to make him more believable in his role, but their very first job together sees them witnessing a murder and the dumping of the body.

With a lot of bad luck, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and through several cases of mistaken identity, Harry finds himself embroiled in a real life murder-mystery... just like the pulp novels he used to read as a kid. [[GenreSavvy Applying what he knows from his reading]], Harry attempts to be the good guy for once, get the girl, and live happily ever after.

* ThreeAmigos: Harry, Perry and Harmony make up the TokenTrio variety.

* RoleAssociation: Batman and Iron Man solving crimes in LA. Hell. Yes.
** Batman and ''Sherlock Holmes'' solving crimes in LA. And at one point, [[HoYay kissing]]. ([[{{Sidekick}} Robin]] and [[TheWatson Watson]] must be [[ShipSinking sooooo jealous]].)

* AskAStupidQuestion: An often occurence, usually from Perry

-->'''Perry''': Lookup "idiot" in the dictionary. You know what you'll find?\\

-->'''Perry''': Lookup "idiot" in the dictionary. You know what you'll find?
'''Harry''': A picture of me?

* BadBadActing: The way Harry stumbles through his lines during the audition. It takes a dramatic turn when the similarity to his current situation gets to be too much and [[EnforcedMethodActing he loses it]].

* EnforcedMethodActing:
** According to the DVD commentary track, Robert Downey Jr. had one of the director's assistants crouching off camera jabbing him in the kidneys during the ElectricTorture scene.
** Inverted InUniverse with Harry's 'audition' in the beginning, where he's mistaken for an actor. Actually, he was running from the police and barged into the room by chance. It's perfect for the part he's reading from, however.