Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: October 21, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
The zingers come so fast and furious that if you miss a few (and even the most alert viewer will the first time), there are always more. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
This is one of Downey's most enjoyable performances, and one of Kilmer's funniest. It's a relationship comedy wrapped in sharp talk and gunplay, a triumphant comeback for Black, and one of the year's best movies. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The deliriously enjoyable noir comedy-thriller Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang does nothing by halves and everything by doubles. Read full review
91
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
It's one nutty holiday fruitcake that is appetizing and tasty. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Black's retro-noir reminds us why we love movies: because they can surprise us, even when we're ankle deep in bullet casings, bodies and enough twists to tie us in knots. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This tribute to old-fashioned hard-boiled detective fiction is laced with Hollywood satire and snappy, lightning-fast dialogue. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The plot is thin: You'll guess the villain early, then pick holes in story construction. But Black's ear for mock-noir speeches doesn't fail him, and he gleefully parodies the chase scenes that dominated his action movies. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Black, who wrote "Lethal Weapon," makes his directorial debut, and he puts a fresh spin not only on that film but also on a whole slew of films noirs. Read full review
80
Film ThreatClint Morris
One of the coolest and most memorable films of 2005 – I just want to see it again. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyMark Olsen
Snappy, fun and outrageously irreverent, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the work of someone with nothing to lose, which is only to the audience's gain. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Amazingly and incessantly funny, a free-form riff on Hollywood shenanigans, the film noir genre and film in general.
80
EmpireStaff (Not Credited)
Bold and breathless, this trippy, hilarious, know-it-all comedy-thriller will have you reliving its ironic spoils for days, but you'll still be hard-pressed to nail the actual story. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Macabre, yes, but the movie's also inventive and funny. You get a lot of smart bang-bang for your buck. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's also a doozy of a comedy, matching the dark wit of Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer novels to the stylized theatrics of Matt Helm-era Dean Martin. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Shane Black creates a movie that is defiantly smartass and too cool for the room. I couldn't have liked it more. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Robert Downey Jr. is perfect as Harry. He brings the right mix of cynicism, self-doubt, and unpretentiousness. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
One of the season's most delightful surprises. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
The picture’s great, fast-moving fun for the most part, and Kilmer gives his most appealing, relaxed, and amusing performance since "Real Genius." Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
It's a merry deconstructive delight and easily the best party in town. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The movie is pretty damned funny in its insubstantial, gratuitously violent, gratuitously everything way. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Has some hilarious moments and still succeeds in dramatic terms. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is a movie obsessed more with the act of telling a story than the story itself, which explains why, when the movie's finally over, less than half the audience will have understood the finer points of the mystery. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Downey and Monaghan are wonderful at playing characters that compensate for the harshness of their past with flippant swaggers. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Once again making a diverting but insubstantial movie look better than it is, Downey, with haggard charm to burn, is winning all the way. Kilmer is riotous at times as an impeccably groomed, businesslike guy keen to assert his orientation at every opportunity. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Black's sadistic streak remains as uncomfortable as it ever was, and his direction is very much in the house style of producer Joel Silver. But both elements perfectly suit the material, which sneaks in a lot of sly stuff beneath the slick surface. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
I wouldn't trust him (Downey) to look after my handkerchief, but I'll watch him in anything, and that is why Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang--smug as it is, and more like a day in the reptile house than a night at the movies--remains a slithery treat. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Jumpy and ironic, Downey is a quicksilver delight and Kilmer is funny as the gay Perry. But Black’s inventive, self-conscious script--heavy on voice-over narration--can be too clever for its own good. The movie is baroque fun, but exhausting. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
The comic surface of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is all polished brilliance, with surprisingly few dull patches...The movie doesn't deliver in the kiss-kiss department, though. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's rowdy, often tasteless and very much in the buddy-action vein of the scripts that made him famous, but in a much more comic spirit. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
All three actors give it their all, but Monaghan stands out with a sexy yet oddly down-to-earth variation on the Midwest girl gone wrong, thanks partly to a dark dysfunctional family secret. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang contains a lot of comedy and invention, but doesn't much benefit from its clever style. The characters and plot are so promising that maybe Black should have backed off and told the story deadpan, instead of mugging so shamelessly for laughs. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Designed as a giant put-on, "Kiss Kiss" is so inside Hollywood, so anxious to bite the hand that fed Black, that it plays like an elaborate prank. Some of it is a lot of fun; most of it is a lot of nonsense. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Steeped in attitude - a smart-alecky, insider sarcasm that can be pretty clever at times, but also pretty insufferable. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The sort of movie that believes coolness is next to godliness, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang trades heavily and successfully on Downey's unflappable likability. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Cheerful mess of a pulp-fiction parody. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
I don't think Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is an altogether bad movie. It's just a movie with no particular reason for existing, a flashy, trifling throwaway whose surface cleverness masks a self-infatuated credulity. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Turns into a film that is too ostentatiously pleased with itself, so in love with its own cleverness it doesn't notice it's darn near worn you out. Read full review
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