10 Best Neo-Noir Movies Of The 21st Century

The ultimate example of a meta noir -- if such a thing exists -- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang delights in its own smirking self-awareness almost as much as Robert Downey Jr. cherishes the endless sarcasm he's allowed to spew as a thief-turned-actor who winds up embroiled in a murder investigation.

Shane Black's directorial debut finds him skewering both film noir and action movies with great reverence. As the events in the film escalate into classic crime movie levels of intensity, he makes sure to keep his main characters "in the real world", reacting as any of us might in the same dire situations.

Here's an exchange between Downey and Val Kilmer - who gives his finest performance since Tombstone as a gay private investigator appropriately named Gay Perry - that summarizes the whole feel of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang:

Perry: You threw [my gun] in the lake next to the car. What happens when they drag the lake? You think they'll find my pistol? Jesus. Look up "idiot" in the dictionary. You know what you'll find?

Harry: A picture of me?

Perry: No. The definition of the word idiot, which you f*cking are!

Kilmer isn't the average private eye, and Downey is far from the typical pulp hero. The weirder things get around them, the more we're reminded that they exist in a different type of "fiction".