For the last couple years, the term “sleeper” has made me think of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan and written as well as directed by Shane Black of Lethal Weapon fame, this satire of film noir came out in the autumn of 2005, just as my perfume obsession was really starting to hog most of my leisure time. I remember thinking that I should go see the movie — it was getting great reviews and I’m one of those masochists who tries to support Downey Jr. when he isn’t incarcerated — but I probably spent the ticket money on a bottle of Bvlgari something. In any case, I didn’t make it to the theatre and I was not alone: the movie site Rotten Tomatoes reports that Kiss Kiss Bang Bang made a woeful total of $4.2 million on the big screen.

When it was released to DVD in June of the following year, I shelled out for the rental. It’s not a profound or ambitious movie, so I was almost embarrassed by how entertaining I found it…

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