Focus on the feature film which relaunched the career of American actor Robert Downey Jr. in the 2000s. The first “Iron Man”? No way !
For most viewers, THE role that impressively relaunched Robert Downey Jr.’s career was undoubtedly that of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in 2008. Except that in fact, that’s not really the case …
It is in fact not the character of Iron Man, adored by a certain Christopher Nolan, who put Robert Downey Jr. back in the saddle at the bottom of the wave, but that of Harry Lockhart. You don’t know the latter? He is the hero of the excellent police comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, released in theaters in 2005.
What is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang?
The buddy movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a frankly funny black comedy which properly scratches Hollywood, tells the story of Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.), a thief on the run who accidentally finds himself in the middle of a thriller casting. To best prepare for his role, he teams up with a lawless private detective (Val Kilmer) and an aspiring actress (Michelle Monaghan). They will end up finding themselves involved in a real and mysterious murder case.
With the jubilant Kiss Kiss Bang Bangthe American Shane Black, known for having written the screenplays for the first two Lethal Weapon films, wanted to pay tribute to the private detective stories that he read during his youth. “It’s in the adult section of bookstores and libraries that my favorite heroes were nestled”he declares. “I loved detective stories, I literally devoured hundreds of them.”
Did you say sardonic?
When Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is revealed at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, Robert Downey Jr. no longer popular. Stuck in addiction problems, he is no longer really in Hollywood’s limelight, Chaplin is far away, but the film produced by Joel Silver will make him bounce back. It must be said that the actor is excellent, composing a sardonic character who is already reminiscent of Tony Stark.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang will not be a big success at the box office, barely recouping its budget. But the performance of Robert Downey Jr. seduced Hollywood and in particular a certain Jon Favreau, who then only saw himself as Tony Stark.
“My calling card for Iron Man”
“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang has been my calling card for Iron Man“Robert Downey Jr. bluntly declared. at the microphone of The Hollywood Reporter. Released in 2008, the first adventure of the Marvel superhero ended up resurrecting RDJ, who then became an essential star. To note that Shane Black will also benefit from the Kiss…Bang effect (old person reference, who gets it?), since he will be called to direct Iron Man 3.
Robert Downey Jr., recently seen on the poster for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, will soon be starring in a series in which he plays no less than six characters. Release planned for April on the Max platform, and for the moment only in the United States.
Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer at the AlloCiné microphone to talk about “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”: