This is a movie that I feel like I heard the title but didn't realize what it was. I would have been graduating high school in 2005. Robert Downey Jr. Was an actor that I knew, just wasn't familiar with him at the time. I did like Val Kilmer by that time. Shane Black was also a name that I wouldn't come to recognize until later. This is one that I'm glad was selected for Where to Begin with Film Noir/Neo-Noir films as I don't know if I would have ever watched this.
For this, we are getting voice-over narration from Harry Lockhart (Downey). He is a petty thief that fled to Hollywood when he ends up in an audition to avoid capture from the police. Now that he is there, he's trying to fit in, but its not working. He was brought there by Dabney Shaw (Larry Miller). Harry spends a majority of the time with Gay Perry (Kilmer) as well as Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan). He has an interesting connection with her.
Harry gets mixed up with a murder and then Harmony's younger sister dies. It is just like detective stories he and her used to read. They might be more connected than they realize as they navigate the deadly underworld.
This is an interesting Neo-Noir film. We get the classic roles. Gay Perry is a private investigator who works with Dabney. He keeps him and those that work for him clean. Harmony is a struggling actor who comes off as our femme fatale. What I like here is that Harry is a criminal who plays PI to get close to Harmony. We gets thugs that you'd see from back in the day with Mr. Frying Pan (Dash Mihok) and Mr. Fire (Mr. Fire). This plays well with Harry and Harmony not knowing who they can trust.
What makes this work is Black's ability to make this feel like a modern Film Noir. It has snappy dialogue. Downey, Kilmer and Monaghan play well off each other. They fire back and forth that made me laugh. The mystery was good too. Downey breaks the 4th wall, but there were things that I picked up before me mentioned them. I'm not always a fan of this. It works here though. I'd go as far to say that something like Deadpool doesn't work if we don't have a movie like this first.
The cast is great. Not everyone is well known, but we get good character actors here. Aside from those I've mentioned, I'd give credit to Corbin Bernsen and Miller. There is also Shannyn Sossamon and even a young Ariel Winter. This is a movie that I'm glad I can tick off my list as I enjoyed my time with it. It is a good mystery that has good dialogue and characters for sure. It feels like this could happen while flirting with it being unbelievable at the same time. Even Harry acknowledges that.
My Rating: 8 out of 10.
For this, we are getting voice-over narration from Harry Lockhart (Downey). He is a petty thief that fled to Hollywood when he ends up in an audition to avoid capture from the police. Now that he is there, he's trying to fit in, but its not working. He was brought there by Dabney Shaw (Larry Miller). Harry spends a majority of the time with Gay Perry (Kilmer) as well as Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan). He has an interesting connection with her.
Harry gets mixed up with a murder and then Harmony's younger sister dies. It is just like detective stories he and her used to read. They might be more connected than they realize as they navigate the deadly underworld.
This is an interesting Neo-Noir film. We get the classic roles. Gay Perry is a private investigator who works with Dabney. He keeps him and those that work for him clean. Harmony is a struggling actor who comes off as our femme fatale. What I like here is that Harry is a criminal who plays PI to get close to Harmony. We gets thugs that you'd see from back in the day with Mr. Frying Pan (Dash Mihok) and Mr. Fire (Mr. Fire). This plays well with Harry and Harmony not knowing who they can trust.
What makes this work is Black's ability to make this feel like a modern Film Noir. It has snappy dialogue. Downey, Kilmer and Monaghan play well off each other. They fire back and forth that made me laugh. The mystery was good too. Downey breaks the 4th wall, but there were things that I picked up before me mentioned them. I'm not always a fan of this. It works here though. I'd go as far to say that something like Deadpool doesn't work if we don't have a movie like this first.
The cast is great. Not everyone is well known, but we get good character actors here. Aside from those I've mentioned, I'd give credit to Corbin Bernsen and Miller. There is also Shannyn Sossamon and even a young Ariel Winter. This is a movie that I'm glad I can tick off my list as I enjoyed my time with it. It is a good mystery that has good dialogue and characters for sure. It feels like this could happen while flirting with it being unbelievable at the same time. Even Harry acknowledges that.
My Rating: 8 out of 10.