Shane Black gives mismatched partners plenty to argue about and actors room to make the insults affectionate. We like his crime comedy most when he lets those people get on with things, rather than interrupting to demonstrate his cleverness.
Fi1m perspective
In Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Robert Downey Jr.’s Harry Lockhart keeps interrupting his own detective story. Shane Black lets the narrator fuss with the telling until getting on with it becomes part of the comedy. We laughed at Harry’s inability to leave it alone because Downey makes the interference feel like a fallible man talking. With Val Kilmer there to argue with him, we have good reason to tolerate a mystery that can get tangled.
Black came to directing after writing Lethal Weapon (1987), The Last Boy Scout (1991) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). An extended break from produced work in the late 1990s preceded his directorial debut with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. His debut makes a good case for letting him direct his own dialogue: Downey and Kilmer find affection beneath lines that could have been merely abrasive.
Michael Barrett’s cinematography keeps the actors’ irritation legible while the dialogue hurries along. Aaron Osborne’s production design gives Black recognisable detective-film surroundings without distracting from the actors. That restraint helps when the dialogue is already so busy. The setting needs no lengthy explanation, and Downey’s warmth keeps Harry likeable even when his interruptions have ceased to help.
The difficulty is Black’s suspicion of an ordinary stretch of storytelling. In Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, another clever line too often arrives before the previous one has had time to settle, while the complicated mystery waits for attention. The detective trappings also promise more dread than he supplies. We would not trade away the affection in the performances, but there are stretches when letting a scene proceed without comment would be welcome.
His subsequent directing includes Iron Man 3 (2013), The Nice Guys (2016) and The Predator (2018). The Nice Guys, a caper set in the 1970s, continues the noir-comedy approach of his debut. We would welcome more of the trust he places in Downey and Kilmer, and fewer explanations of how detective stories work. Start with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang for those two, and give the mystery a little patience.
Biography
Shane Black is an American screenwriter, director and actor. Born on 16 December 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in theatre.
Black wrote the screenplay for Lethal Weapon (1987), which launched the franchise. He followed this with The Last Boy Scout (1991), Last Action Hero (1993) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). He also appeared as Hawkins in Predator (1987).
Black made his directorial debut with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), which he also wrote. He later wrote and directed Iron Man 3 (2013), The Nice Guys (2016) and The Predator (2018).
