Som tilskuer er man i høj grad også med, især hvis man kender genren og dens karakteristika.

Can you make a movie undeniably shallow, base, violent (and incomprehensible), yet invest it with satirical cunning and knowingness, energised by brilliantly barbed screenwriting? Yes, it transpires, you can.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is made for a fairly specific audience; it helps if you are familiar with the private eye genre in general and the works of Raymond Chandler in particular...

...the movie employs all manner of overused “meta” devices to signal cleverness. Chief among these is the sarcastic and self-aware narrator.

...offers a few thrills, a surprise or two, and several wholehearted laughs. It gives off the same kind of vibe as Get Shorty.

...a doozy of a comedy, matching the dark wit of Ross MacDonald’s Lew Archer novels to the stylized theatrics of Matt Helm-era Dean Martin.

...nicely portends both Downey’s subsequent rocketlike professional rise and the metal-suited character that has fueled it.