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terrorisanF16
Reviews
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2000)
A good idea ruined? - SPOILER included
KKBB tells the story of a man who becomes infatuated with a girl he sees through the window. He chats up her best friend to get close to her then has her boyfriend and his new girlfriend bumped off. He bumps off the hitman and settles down with the object of his desire and before the end credits roll his eyes are wandering. The thing is that the above does sound a rather good idea, and as a treatment must have sounded great. The problem lies in the having a single Writer/Producer/Director. While this one man band (Ray Brady)had a good idea and did excellently to raise the (limited) finance the film has suffered from their being no counterbalance to his warped vision. The dialogue is less natural than George Lucas's worst excesses and is further impaired by some sketchy dubbing work - nor is there any member of the decidedly amateurish cast to lift their lines out of the mire ala Harrison Ford. Some good lighting work in small locations is undone by peculiar use of color with no regard to the mood of the film at that point.
Pitched as a light-hearted film it does veer briefly towards comedy with the appearance of Des Brady, the directors brother, as an unintentionally camp hitman. Any temptation to giggle is soon reversed by a torture scene which sends us back to the disturbing territory of Boy Meets Girl - the directors most (in)famous film. I gave this film a 2. Made by someone else it could get a 7 or 8.
Randall's Flat (2001)
I loved it even more once i knew what it was.
To my surprise this film was a murder mystery. I really liked the way it manages to disguise this fact for most of the movie. A slow beginning sets the plot in motion and introduces some great characters (Tommy was excellent)who you want to see more of. There are some excellent steadicam shots that add immense energy to key scenes and some nicely executed externals that stop the film becoming claustrophobic. Steering a refreshingly reckless course from drama, through comedy, to farce, and back again it's a film that couldn't be made by a studio with an eye on distribution. Some highly offensive one-liners and great background gags (the firemen in particular are genius)keep you unsure of what you're watching until the final act, where the two leads act their socks off and leave you with a lump in your throat where previously you were suppressing a laugh. Excellent.