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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: (John Ottman) It's hard to
describe movies in which the creation of the screenplay actually becomes
part of the story on screen, and
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is one such
entry. Existing in the private eye genre and borrowing from the works of
Raymond Chandler, the film is a comedic parody that doesn't necessarily
want to make sense; writer Shane Black, known for his sometimes suspect
writing for three of the
Lethal Weapon films as well as
The
Long Kiss Goodnight and
The Last Action Hero, directs for the
first time and tells the story of this film through his primary
character's narration. As as conman who moves to Los Angeles to take
private eye lessons from a gay detective, solve a murder mystery, and
try to win over an old flame, the characters inevitably define the
nonsensical plot by simply paying tribute to guns and women (hence, the
title of the movie). Whether the film was meant to make sense or not,
its off-the-wall humor is a perfect match for the similarly weird humor
of composer John Ottman, who by his own confession very much enjoyed
writing the music for
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. An inherently
difficult type of film to score, Ottman approached the task from the
point of view of a twisted film-noir comedy, taking a base noir sound
from the wet streets of detective novels and films of yesteryear (with a
dash of his contemporary
Point of Origin score) and infusing some
of the funk and personality of
Goodbye Lover to poke fun at the
wacky characters in the story. When Ottman travels down these roads, he
often writes music that is innovative and enticingly fun. Such works
usually have one of two things in common: the creative manipulation of a
genre's stereotypical sounds, or a rhythmic pace over which Ottman
constantly refreshes the thematic ideas that rely on those rhythms to
continuously bounce them along. For
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, he would
do both, with varying levels of success.
Compared to his bland superhero work for
Fantastic
Four earlier in 2005,
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a welcome return
to the more intelligently subtle styles that have attracted Ottman so
many fans. With a limited budget, this score shares more than just the
sense of humor with
Goodbye Lover, but also the similar sound of
accentuated solo performances over a synthesized bed of rhythms. An
overdubbed orchestra in
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is sufficient to
convey the ideas that Ottman had in mind, but the sometimes
two-dimensional environment of this score could great have benefited
from a full ensemble, especially in the string "mystery theme" and the
occasional rips of brass that punctuate the comedy. A delicate piano
theme for the love interest plays to the girl's attachment to mystery
novels with a playful spin on the detective genre with light choir and
harmonious sax (the sax here is reminiscent of James Horner's
Sneakers while the trailing end of the theme does the same for
Ottman's own
Incognito). An electric piano over bass rhythms set
the backdrop for wild sax and brass riffs that exist in various levels
throughout the score to represent the quirky humor. These three thematic
ideas weave in and out with Ottman's usual loyalty to their structures,
though none of them stand out as a clear winner in your memory after the
score finishes. Overall, the listening experience is cute and fuzzy,
with some outward parody of detective thrillers, and in these regards,
the score tumbles, rolls, and bounces along with much the same carefree
attitude as
Bubble Boy, even in its more serious, faux-thriller
moments. The highlight of the album is easily the opening two cues; the
"Main Titles" were thought so highly of by the director and producer
that the film had an animated title sequence made specifically to the
cue. The fair-weather album ends with an unfortunate, unrelated light
rock song co-written and performed by the star of the film, Robert
Downey Jr. Overall,
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a lightweight, but
offers Ottman at his most comfortable.
***
| Bias Check: | For John Ottman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.29 (in 28 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.06
(in 15,541 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes extensive notes about the film and score by the director and composer.
