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Originally Posted by Orange Brat
I'll put my faith in every other major film critic, the writer/director, and stars on whether it's a Noir or not. And, it is....I don't think everyone's wrong.  I've read that one of the chapters is subtitled, "The Lady in the Lake" which is a famous Chandler story, they speak in stylized Noir manner, it's violent as hell, has a narrator, and is a hardboiled detective story. It definitely sounds like a comedy Noir and those are always more light in tone.
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/kisskissbangbang
Sorry to come off like a hardass on this particular issue, but I'm only going by the huge amount of text that has been written about it. Shane Black set out to write and direct a Neo Noir, and as I said it looks like that has what he did, although it may not necessarily conform to the usual standards. There are many different kinds of Noir..some barely conform to what you would normally look for. |
And I stand by my point that to be noir, a film has to have a dark tone. It's there in the name of the genre. Comedies playing with the conventions of film noir may or may not themselves be noir, depending on the film.
Rather than believe that so many critics are outright mistaken, I choose to think that they are using "noir" in an inexact manner, as shorthand for the kind of hardboiled detective story with confusing plots that the movie references. I note that a knowledgeable reviewer like Roger Ebert avoids the term. I would also like to point out that Raymond Chandler didn't always write noir, nor do the fictional pulp novels that figure in the film appear to be in a noir style.
It's difficult to argue exactly why
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang isn't noir without using spoilers from the film. However, its attitude is almost the complete opposite of that genre. On the other hand, given your arguments for why it does belong there, it sounds like you're using the term in a very loose, you might say superficial, sense anyway.
This site, which I believe was referenced by someone else recently, is a pretty good introduction to the essence of noir.
