10 Best Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Moments
5. “You’re not a punk.”
Perry looks fondly at Harry as he says, ‘don’t steal any more shit, you’re not a punk.’
In a film of gags, this is a sweet beat. A brief conversation between Perry (miraculously alive after diving in front of a bullet intended for Harry) where their friendship is sealed. It is another subversion of spy thriller tropes when this final moment of relief and adoration happens between the guy and the girl rather than between two platonic friends.
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4. Harry’s Finger
It seems obvious that the boy and the girl are going to get together, but then they don’t. The boy finds another girl. The boy likes to self-sabotage. The girl is angry. So angry she slams a door.
It stands to reason that in this strange post-modern world Shane Black has built, the only reason these two remain on speaking terms is that Harmony cuts off Harry’s finger. Harmony is unlike the graceful noir starlets that moviegoers are used to. She clumsily flings herself off buildings, she wobbles about on too-high heels, and she cuts off fingers. She is sorry about it though; like Harry her heart seems to be in the right place even if her actions don’t always reflect that.
3. Lady in the Lake
Harry is shadowing Perry, hoping to learn a thing or two. Unfortunately, things go south very quickly. A car flies over them and crashes into a lake. It’s dramatic but Robert Downey Jr adds the humour and slapstick. His lacklustre peering through the water rather than diving headfirst (as we’d expect from a superspy), is brilliant, while Perry tries to rescue whoever might be inside.
But even Perry is not immune to oafishness as his bullet lodges in the dead woman’s head. Perry and Harry’s rapid fire to-and-fro conversational style is cemented in this scene.
