History Film / KissKissBangBang

* GirlNextDoorTurnedSuperstar: Subverted. Harmony filled the "unattainable woman" role for Harry when he was young, but when they meet again in Hollywood, she never made it as a starlet and is still Waiting for a Break.

* YouMakeMeSic: One scene has Harmony telling Harry that "I feel badly" should be "I feel bad." He later tries to show off by 'correcting' Perry's "Sleep badly," only [[ButtMonkey to be corrected yet again.]]

* TrappedInASinkingCar: Perry 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.

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler: SubvertedTrope.]]

* LemonyNarrator: Harry.

* ShootOutTheLock: Harry shoots open the trunk lock of the sinking car in order to free the girl, [[spoiler: who was dead at that point to begin with.]]

''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'' is a 2005 WorldOfSnark BlackComedy film, 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.

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.]]

Starring Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Creator/ValKilmer, the movie was directed and written by Creator/ShaneBlack in his directorial debut. Despite being a box-office bomb (thanks to ExecutiveMeddling), the movie was [[CriticalDissonance a critical success]] and went on to become a CultClassic.

To avoid confusion it's worth mentioning that two other films also exist with the same title. One from 1966 and one from 2001. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Mr. Frying Pan and Mustard.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The case gets solved and the protagonists survive, but it doesn't change the fact that Harmony's sister ''did'' kill herself, and both Dexter and Harmony's rapist fathers suffer little retribution considering their crimes.]] One of the characters even notes that [[RealityEnsues things turn bitter somewhat suddenly]]:

* RealityEnsues: See FalseRoulette and PocketProtector above.

Starring Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Creator/ValKilmer, the movie was directed and written by Creator/ShaneBlack. Despite being a box-office bomb (thanks to ExecutiveMeddling), the movie was [[CriticalDissonance a critical success]] and went on to become a CultClassic.

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

** It could be claimed that, like his other skills, it's because of excellent hand-eye coordination thanks to his skill as a stage magician, though that's a stretch for someone with absolutely no firearm experience.

** When [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] an irrelevant scene that blatantly holds some type of {{foreshadowing}}, Harry compares it to a scene involving the cook in ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober''.

* BadassGay: Perry.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The case gets solved and the protagonists survive, but it doesn't change that Harmony's sister ''did'' kill herself, and both Dexter and Harmony's rapist father pay little retribution considering their crimes.]] One of the characters even notes that [[RealityEnsues things turn bitter somewhat suddenly]]:

--> "It's only good for a couple of shots, then you have to drop it for something better."

** The fact [[spoiler: Perry]] survives his gunshot wound despite it being coded as fatal in movie language ("Bad" place to get shot, BloodFromTheMouth). Harry even lampshades how cheap it seems that he survived, but it's what "really happened".

-->'''Harry''': I BET you if you look in their childhood, there is something rotten in [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Denver]].\\

* ThisIsReality: Perry. "Do not play detective. This is not a book. This is not a movie."
** This is also the main point of the film: tearing down all the palatable trappings of a cool detective story, leaving a very sour reality-based story, but with a veneer of winks-to-the-audience and snappy banter reminding us why the fake stories are fun in the first place.

** It could be claimed that, like his other skills, it's sheer hand-eye coordination thanks to his skill as a stage magician, though that's a stretch for someone with absolutely no firearm experience.

* NonchalantDodge: Perry wins this award for insulting a roomful of party-goers, then deftly ducking a bottle thrown at him without so much as a blink.

-->'''Harry''': So are you really gay?\\

* BigFancyHouse: It opens with a party in Harlan Dexter's one (which is actually [[RealitySubtext Shane Black's mansion, where he ''did'' throw such wild Hollywood parties]]).

* GenreRoulette: As a result of Shane Black attempting GenreAdultery and giving up. [[http://www.gq.com/story/shot-callers-shane-black-the-nice-guys In his own words:]]

-->'''Mook 1''': Well now, here we all are. Ike, Mike and Mustard.\\
'''Harry''': What the hell does that mean?\\
'''Mook 2''': You know, I'm with him on this one, man. [[LampshadedTheObscureReference That's pretty fucking obscure]].\\
'''Mook 1''': Horse shit, I hear that all the time!\\
[...]\\
'''Mook 1''': You wanna know who we are? I'm the frying pan, see? And my boy over here, he's--\\
'''Mook 2''': Mustard. I'm Mr. Mustard, baby.\\