Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the kind of film that never turns up at Guernsey's oft bemoaned cinema and so it's with good fortune that I caught the flick in Edinburgh (everyone should go there, easily my favourite city). The title suggests James Bond (what the Japanese call him), but it's more of a comedy film noir, if that isn't verging on a contradiction in terms, starring the always engaging Robert Downey Jnr and Val Kilmer. While it's best avoided for people who hate their films to be too knowing - it has the kind of overly clever dialogue that you rarely hear outside of Dawson's Creek or the Scream movies - for everyone else, it's great fun and a comedy that isn't silly or dumb, but an engaging enough thriller with laughs.

No stranger to thrillers is John Ottman who has scored plenty of them in his time and it's a genre at which he excels (as opposed to superhero films where his work is distinctly ordinary). The film and score open in a rather tangential manner and The Fair features twinkling piano seemingly at odds with expectations, however the Main Titles introduce the jazzy main theme which echoes the retro titles music John Williams composed for Catch Me If You Can (the animated titles sequence is equally similar). Naturally, much of the score is suspenseful, Toy Heist immediately setting the tone. Surprisingly, it's the longer suspense cues that provide the most satisfying moments, Surveillance Lesson, Dead Girl in Shower and Saving Perry being particularly highlights. For the latter, Ottman even spins out a very effective Herrmann-esque string motif into the mix.

Fragments of the opening piano melody appear in slightly more adult guise on few occasions and given a gorgeous workout in Harmony Lives. The closing song written and performed by Robert Downey Jnr is a half decent indie ballad, but the melodic structure is rather weak and not as memorable as it should be. As usual, the release on La-La Land Records is a top quality production with notes from both director and composer, plus a generous running time. Then again, it starts to become a little samey and several of the less engaging tracks could easily have been pruned. Still, a fine release of a generally engaging score.