This Movie is Rated R – For Language, Violence and Sexuality/Nudity
Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) is a petty criminal. Escaping from a robbery that went bad, he inadvertently ends up in an audition. He is still emotional from what has just happened and ends up giving an incredible performance. They decide to send him out to Los Angeles for a screen test and also start him on detective lessons to help him prepare for the part.
Perry van Shrike, aka Gay Perry, (Val Kilmer) is the private detective that has been given the task of training Harry. Then there is Harmony (Michelle Monaghan), Harry’s childhood friend. He had a huge crush on her in High School, although apparently she slept with everyone but him. She also happens to be in L.A. trying to break into showbiz. So of course you know this means that their paths will end up crossing somehow.
Harry’s detective lessons begin with Perry taking him on a stakeout. Which goes horribly wrong and ends up with them discovering a dead body. It also results in Harry doing something stupid and Perry becoming very annoyed with him.
Things become even more complicated when Harmony’s sister ends up dead and the previously mentioned dead body ends up in Harry’s hotel room. As they continue their investigation things just get crazier and crazier.
About the first half-hour of the movie is a slower build as we meet the characters and the basic premise is setup. After that the pace speeds up and it’s totally wild. Harry also serves as the narrator for the movie, which is incredibly entertaining. At times he will even stop the movie to mention something he forgot or to make a point. It’s a hysterically funny, action packed movie.
Robert is phenomenal as Harry. You would swear this part was written just for him. The dialogue is witty and he knows how to deliver it perfectly. I absolutely adore his narration. I hadn’t really seen Val in anything, other than a short clip here and there. I wasn’t really expecting much from his performance. However, I ended up being totally impressed by him. He was the perfect match for Robert. Val was equally as good at the funny stuff as he was with the tough guy stuff.
As far as the extras go, both the gag reel and the commentary track are worth your time. The gag reel consists mainly of Robert and Val goofing around or just laughing. The commentary has both of them in addition to Shane Black (the director and writer of the screenplay). They have interesting comments to make about the movie and of course there is more goofing around. There is definitely a great “buddy vibe” between Robert and Val.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Harry – “L.A., by now you may wonder how I wound up here, or maybe not. Maybe you wonder how Silly Putty picks sh*t up from comic books.”
Harry – “Oh, sh*t. I skipped something. Damn it. This whole robot bit that I made a big deal about and then like totally forgot.”
Harry – “Punk-rock Steven Seagal thinks it’s special.”
Harry – “Well that’s my point. If I don’t remember because I was that drunk, how could I have ever gotten it up.”
Harry – “Is she dead?”
Perry – “No. She’s just resting her eyes for a minute … of course she’s f*cking dead.”
Perry – “Jesus. Look up idiot in the dictionary. Know what you’ll find?”
Harry – “A picture of me?”
Perry – “No, the definition of the word idiot, which you f*cking are.”
Perry – “Why in poo-perfect hell would you pee on a corpse?”
Harry – “These lessons suck. I quit. This is not being a detective. Corpses floating in lakes. People kissing people. This is wrong. This is every shade of wrong.”
Harry – “Doesn’t that suck? I just hit you for no reason. I don’t even know why.”
Perry – “Homophobes never check there.”
Jan
Following is additional information about the movie that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.
All of the parts involving Harry’s finger makes me cringe (losing it, getting it re-attached, re-losing it). Although, I did like how calm he seemed after the dog ate it. Due to the fact that he no longer had to worry about his fingerprint being left behind.
While Perry’s ring tone of “I Will Survive” is slightly amusing earlier in the movie. It actually becomes quite sad and I guess ironic later on. When his cell phone rings after he has been shot and we think he is dead.
It was amazing to see Harry’s growth throughout the movie. The first guy he kills has him so upset that he is in tears. However, later on he has turned into quite the tough guy. He takes over for Perry (after he is shot) and becomes the hero that takes out all the bad guys.
The epilogue was fantastic. Harry continuing to narrate and then Perry coming in to tell him to stop it. The “Lord of the Rings” reference and the bit about saying “f*ck” so much was so funny. The fact that he is now working for Perry seemed like the perfect setup for a sequel. Which I suppose will never happen, now that Robert is so highly sought after.
