There’s something strange about the casting of Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer as sidekicks in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but it took me a while to put my finger on it. Both of them have reputations as serious dramatic actors, but that’s not it; Downey, for one, has been in more comedies than dramas, and Kilmer has been in more terrible action movies than he’d like to admit. And it’s not like acclaimed actors don’t make silly comedies–DeNiro and Nicholson have made millions serving as the heavies opposite goofy comic leads. What makes Kiss Kiss Bang Bang different is there is no Ben Stiller or Owen Wilson to lighten up their gravitas. KKBB relies on its dramatic actors to serve as comic foils to each other.
But as odd as the pairing seems, it’s also easy to imagine how Downey’s and Kilmer’s careers could have taken different paths, paths that would have led to them to become natural partners for a comic action vehicle like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Downey’s neurotic acting style is tailormade for a sidekick role: he’s like a smarter, less physical version of Chris Tucker. And producers have been trying to turn Kilmer into a star for years; if any of Kilmer’s action movies had even been tolerable (or profitable), he would currently be playing the kinds of roles that go to Nicolas Cage and Bruce Willis.
Posted by myownworstcritic 
