Film - Farewell, My Lovely (starring Robert Mitchum as the detective Philip Malowe) - Released in 1975

Raymond Chandler is a very famous writer, many of whose books were taken for theatre or made into movies. Out of his novels, an early one is the novel called by the same name, "Farewell, My Lovely" (this was actually his second novel, published in 1940), and starred the famous detective that he created, Philip Marlowe. This novel was made as a movie in 1944 earlier, and was again made into a movie released in 1975. The movie has gathered acclaim over the years, being well liked for the film noir atmosphere that it brings into the movie, with the brilliant performance by the lead actor, Robert Mitchum, playing the role of a grizzled old detective, Philip Marlowe (at this time Mitchum was in the latter part of his career, having been in the industry for decades now and being 58 years old).
The film also stars the following: Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland, Jack O'Halloran, Sylvia Miles and Harry Dean Stanton. Incidentally, this was an early movie in the career of a super-star, Sylvester Stallone, who shot into the heights of super-stardom with the release of Rocky the following year. However, Stallone had only a small role in the movie, with the meaty role being portrayed by Robert Mitchum. He plays the role of a detective, well past his prime age, getting more melancholy and at the same time, being mature.



So what's the story about ? Well, the movie is set in Los Angeles of 1941, a time when there was a lot of corruption and when you start to investigate, you can find the whole plot full of betrayal, and more corruption (in the police), along with the usual environment of seedy hotel rooms, gambling nets, and so on. The detective Marlowe has been hired by an ex-convict, called Moose Malloy, who wants Marlowe to find Velma, an old girlfriend, whom he has not met for many years. He is also investigating a different case, the murder of one of his clients named Marriott (coincidentally, Marriott was killed and an unconscious Marlowe woke up next to the body).
And what do these crimes have in common with each other ? There is the puzzling figure of a lady called Mrs. Helen Grayle, and soon Marlowe also finds himself in more trouble, getting beaten up, drugged and held captive in a private hospital; does he manage to get himself out of trouble and find Velma ? This is a wonderful movie, catch it if you have a chance. The movie got one nomination to the Oscars, but no recognition through an actual award.

Eyes wide shut (released in 1999) - A drama movie, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, this drama is adapted from the 1926 novella Traumnovelle (Dream Story), which was written by Arthur Schnitzler. This was Kubrick's last movie and is an intense film starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
Bill and Alice Hartford are an up-market couple who seem to have a perfect marriage. Bill is a successful doctor and is invited to his superior's mansion for a party. Here the couple successfully resist attempts to seduce them and reach home. Back at home, Alice casually mentions her urges for having an affair, especially when she has a passionate glance from a handsome sailor. This sends Bill in to fits of jealousy and he storms out in to the night. A late night phone call from a patient helps him to meet Marion, the daughter of the patient, who implores him to take her as his own wife. Bill with his head full of demons aimlessly walks in the street and bumps in to an acquaintance Nick at the Jazz Club. Here he cleverly wiggles out information about a party in Long Island Mansion which has a select invitee list. He also gets Nick to reveal the password for entry. After acquiring the venetian mask and costume Bill reaches the mansion for the party.
At the party Bill observes bizarre orgies being conducted on the participants. The women are made to stand in the circle and are disrobed by the master of ceremonies wearing a red mask. Each women then move forward and randomly choose the men. Bill is chosen by a model who warns him to get out of the place as he was in danger. Bill does not pay heed to her and wanders around the place where orgies are taking place in all the rooms. He is soon caught and unmasked. The man in the red mask warns him against talking about the orgies to anyone and throws him out in to the night.



Bill reaches home to Alice, who again tearfully tells him about her nightmares about having sex with other men while he is watching. A distraught Bill sets out next morning to check out the events of the night. He soon finds a sinister plot to keep him away from the truth. He finds Nick beaten up and kidnapped and the model he helped to revive in Ziegler's place murdered. He reaches Ziegler to get some answers and is warned again for his life. Ziegler tells him that the orgies involved powerful men of the society and unmasking them would invite their wrath. He also informs him that the dead model was the girl who warned him at the party.
Bill reaches home tired and frightened only to find Alice sleeping with the mask. He breaks down and tells her about his journey. Both make love and reconcile to give their relationship another chance.
Eyes wide Shut was also Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's last movie together. This movie opened to mixed reviews. Some critics found the dream like movie very alluring and many others find it one of Kubrick's lesser efforts. The box office reaction was unremarkable and many parts of America gave it an R rating. Controversies about using Bhagavat Gita Shlokas in Orgy scenes also dogged the DVD versions.
A typical art house cinema, it is strictly for film institute students who can appreciate the nuances of a Kubrick movie which gives forth the dream like state.

The Last Horizon (released in 1937) - starring Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt, and directed by Frank Capra

This 1937 movie directed by Frank Capra is adapted from the novel of the same name by James Hilton. This fantasy movie starred Ronald Coleman and Jane Wyatt.
Richard Conway is a man of many talents and is the new British Foreign Secretary. He is a famous Writer, Soldier and highly sought after diplomat. As an armed revolution threatens China he rescues the stranded foreigners in Baskul and escapes with the last of the evacuees. But unknown to him their plane is hijacked and crashes in a remote Himalayan kingdom killing their abductor. They are rescued and taken to Shangri-La, an idyllic valley sheltered from the bitter cold which is headed by a mysterious head Lama.
Here the passengers find their idyllic life very much to their liking. Most of the newcomers grow to love Shangri-La, including paleontologist Alexander Lovett, swindler Henry Barnard, and bitter, terminally ill Gloria Stone, who miraculously seems to be recovering. Richard finds the lovely Sondra whose allure and beauty mesmerizes him. But his younger brother George and another young woman Maria from Shangri-La are bent upon leaving the place. They constantly try to persuade Richard to leave the place.



Richard gets an audience with the Lama, who tells him that his presence in Shangri-La is no accident. His talent and wisdom had impressed them to choose him to be the leader of Shangri-La. The Lama informs him that Shangri-La is a mystical place where people do not age, fall sick or wither with age. He designates Richard as his heir and passes away.
George, depicts the story as mere fantasy and persuades Richard to leave the place. They move on with Maria who upon leaving Shangri-La reaches her real age and dies. George looses his sanity and commits suicide. Richard continues his journey and slowly looses his memory. But on the voyage back to England he remembers all and jumps from the ship rendering him untraceable. He anyway gives an account of his adventures to others traveling with him. Then he makes him way to Shangri-La to continue his task entrusted to him by the Lama.
The movie has major deviations from the book and this has been a sore point with the audience who wanted a faithful adaptation. This movie was one of the expensive movies made in the 30's which drove a rift between the studio and the director. It was not received well and never recovered its money for a long time, meeting costs after 5 years. After it was re-shot and edited it was released to garner some box office success. The critical reception was a mixed one with some critics praising it and others rubbishing the work. It was nominated for 7 academy awards wining the award for Best Art Direction, and Best Film Editing. It lost the award for the best Picture narrowly to the ultimate winner “The life of Emile Zola”. But the movie pioneered high technological advances which were used to film the Himalayan Scenes. A watchable movie if you are interested in the sci-fi Genre.

Arsenic and Old Lace (Released in 1944) - Starring Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, and Raymond Massey

Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 film directed by Frank Capra based on Joseph Kesselring's play of the same name. It stars Cary Grant along with Josephine Hull, Jean Adir, Raymond Massey and John Alexander.
Cary Grant is Mortimer Brewster who does not believe in love stories and the institution of marriage and has written several books against it. But his views are put to the test when he falls head over heels for his childhood friend Elaine Harper and they get married on Halloween day. So Mortimer and his new bride go visiting relations after their wedding. Mortimer's bizarre relatives live in their family house and consist of his aunts, Ada and Martha and his brother Teddy. Well one hitch is that both Ada and Martha are very eccentric with Teddy crowning the madness streak. Teddy believes himselves to be Teddy Roosevelt and charges at all occasions over the banisters, imitating Roosevelt's famous charge up San Juan Hill.
Sinister and devilish plots and corpses tumble out of his Aunts closets. Both Ada and Martha inform him about their charity of bumping off invalid old members to end their presumed suffering by giving them elderberry wine spiked with arsenic. These corpses are unwittingly buried by Teddy who believes that he is digging locks for the Panama Canal and burying yellow fever victims.



To complicate matters further, Mortimer's more sinister brother Jonathan arrives along with his plastic surgeon friend Dr. Herman Einstein. Jonathan is a psychotic murderer who has his face altered by Dr. Einstein to look like Boris Karloff in his makeup as Frankenstein's monster. Jonathan finds about his aunts secrets and try to bury his latest victim Mr. Spenalzo in the basement. This is vehemently opposed by his aunts who think their victims prestige will be lowered being buried with a lowly Spenalzo. Soon all the crazed deranged relatives turn their attention to Mortimer.
A mortally afraid and mortified Mortimer tries to keep one step ahead of them. He tries to protect Elaine and makes various bumbling attempts to alert the cops and get his aunts and Teddy to an asylum. He is also scared of going insane as his relatives as insanity is galloping through the Brewster's from the days of their arrival aboard the Mayflower.
In the end, he manages to get his relatives booked and locked up. The ultimate redemption comes when he is informed by Ada, that he is not a Brewster, but the son of a chef aboard the ship. A relieved Mortimer walks in to the sunset with Elaine, happy to be a sea cooks son.
This movie is a spoof of the Black widow murders and was well received at the box office. This movie was also the critics favorite and is treated as one of the great 100 laugh riots by the American Film Institute. This macabre movie is a great fun to watch and I would recommend it highly for anybody. Just keep it away from children below eight.

Road to Bali (released in 1952) - starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour

The wacky trio Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour star in this penultimate movie of the road series. This is the only movie to be pictured in Technicolor and the last movie to star Lamour. The director of Road to Utopia, Hal Walker makes a come back with this movie.
So again the two vaudeville actors Harold Gridely and George Cochran leave their act mid-way to get away from fathers of the daughters who were romancing them. The fathers armed with boomerangs want a shot gun wedding and the two con artist complete with disguises flee across Melbourne to reach Port Darwin. Here they get the job nobody wants; which is to get Prince Ken Aroke's sunken treasure. Many deep sea divers have lost their lives to a gigantic sea creature who seems to guard the treasure.
But the treasure belongs to the deceased king, who has the beauteous daughter Princess Lalah whom Ken wants to forcibly marry to usurp the throne. Lalah likes George but cannot forget Harold as he resembles her childhood friend – a chimpanzee. This is really one of the most hilarious resemblances in the history of motion pictures. Princess Lalah warns George about the Boga-Ten or the underwater squid which guards the treasure. George tricks Harold in to diving and he is soon accosted by Boga-Ten. Harold slips out of his suit and comes overboard with the treasure only for it to be yanked off by Ken. But the squid pulls out Ken in a deadly embrace leaving the trio rich beyond dreams.



But to escape from Ken, the duo move on with the treasure and the princess towards home. But Harold gets distracted when Lalah says that she loves both of them and the ship gets wrecked on another Island. Here Harold and George are taken in by a very smitten gorilla and even see the mirage of Humphrey Bogart, Hilarious scenes which leave you clutching stitches on your sides.
But as the Gorilla leaves them, barbaric natives cart them off to their homes ostensibly to shrink their brains and skulls. The tribes medicine man Bhoom Da is a friend of Lalah's Father and tries to help them. But their chief Ramayana, is in cahoots with Ken and he tries to persuade Bhoom Da to host a two groom wedding. Both Harold and George are told separately about the wedding and get excited. But they are drugged and wake up only the next day. They soon learn Lalah's fate and rush to rescue her. By that time the volcano erupts scattering the natives and the mad trio escape again.
Harold and George ask Lalah to pick one of them and Lalah picks George. A dejected Harold conjurers up Joan Russell to be his companion. But alas she picks George who walk away in to the sunset with two girls. Howzatt!!! for a perfect ending. Nothing should induce you to keep away from the Road series. Perfectly unbalanced fun, Top class.

Frantic (released in 1988) - starring Harrison Ford, and directed by Roman Polanski

Frantic is a 1988 thriller film directed by Roman Polanski starring Harrison Ford and Emmanuelle Seigner.
Harrison Ford is Dr. Richard Walker, a doctor who comes to Paris with his wife for a medical conference. At the hotel, his wife is unable to open her suitcase and thus is determined to have picked up a wrong suitcase at the airport. But while he is taking a shower, his wife mysteriously disappears. He complains at the hotel desk and encounters an indifferent staff. As he ventures out on his own to search for her, a wino from the cafe informs him, that he saw his wife forcibly being taken in a car. Walker although initially reluctant to believe in such a possibility, discovers her ID from the sidewalk. He is convinced about the kidnapping and complains to the American embassy and the Parisian cops. But he gets typical bureaucratic replies which disgusts him and thus the panic sets in.



With no official help Walker in a frantic state moves on to the streets to find his wife. He steps in to a murder scene and finds an ally in a streetwise Young Michelle. Michelle reveals to him that she is a career smuggler who works for an unknown boss. She also informs him that his wife had mistakenly picked up her suitcase containing an unknown consignment. Soon the smugglers call in to trade his wife for the suitcase. Michelle agrees to help him in his search to trace his wife.
Walker, in his desperation tries to learn what is in the suitcase. He finds a Statue Of Liberty replica and learns that a Kryptron which is a small electronic switch used in the detonators of nuclear devices is hidden inside. Soon the matters come to head with the officials too closing on the pair. After an intense gun battle on the river Seine, the kidnappers release Sondra, Walker's wife. But Michelle is shot and a disgusted Walker just throws the Kryptron in to the river, challenging the villains and the officials.
This movie is a critics delight. It had a moderate box office success and is treated as Roman Polanski's better film's after Rosemary's Baby. The haunting background score by Ennio Morricone sets the tone for the suspense and Grace Jones' recording of "I've Seen That Face Before is played while Walker is talking to his daughter. Paris is not treated as romantic city with the favorite hot-spots like the Eiffel Tower not in the picture. Instead we are treated to haunting bleak cobble stoned dark alley and side ways.
Harrison Ford delivers a good performance as an anguished Walker and is one of his performance oriented roles. The whole premise is build on Sondra Walker's disappearance. Even thought he screen time is minimal for her, the director makes her the main object of affection, The beautiful Emanuele Seigner is also her best. Good movie and a thought provoking watch modeled on an Hitchcockian theme

The conversation (released in 1974) - starring Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams and Robert Duvall, dealing with wire-tapping

This movie is directed by Francis Coppola, staring the legendary, Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams and Robert Duvall. This deals with the pitfalls of phone tapping and communication surveillance. This movie was released right after the Watergate scandal and has used the same equipment used by the Nixon Administration to spy on his opponents.
Harry Caul is a talented Surveillance expert who undertakes communication surveillance for a fee. He taps and listens to others conversation and is a much sought after person in this field. Caul a devout catholic has no emotional quotient within him. He avoids real contact with people and keeps away from crowds. He is paranoid about security that his apartment has a triple lock door and he himself works behind a wire mesh. Very shabbily dressed and distant, Caul has alienated his colleague and girl friend completely. But among all this paranoia we see Caul as an vulnerable person who is tormented by guilt of his profession.
He gets an assignment of listening and recording the conversation of two people who are having an affair. Ann and Marc are being listened to on the instructions of Ann's husband who is identified as the director. While listening to the conversation, Caul hears them saying “he would have killed us if he had a chance” . He thinks that the director would have the couple killed.



His earlier assignment in the East coast had ended up in deaths and Caul tormented by that incident, fears for the couple's life. He refuses to hand over the tape to the directors aide. While attending a convention he finds that the tapes are stolen and rushes to confront the director. He is paid his due and is curtly dismissed. A scared Caul reaches the hotel where Ann and Marc had agreed to meet and takes up the adjoining room eagerly listening through the wall with his equipment. Suddenly he hears screams and on rushing to the room he finds blood prints on the glass panes. A distraught Caul faints and is revived by the police.
Caul reaches the directors office to confront him and to his surprise finds Ann and Marc alive and well. He hears from the secretary that the director was killed in an accident. The truth finally dawns on him that Ann's sentence was a result of her rationalizing the directors murder.
Caul watches Ann and Marc along with the aide rushing from the press conference asking for an inquiry in to the directors death. Caul's presence unnerves the murderers.
Caul is called by the aide who now works for Ann. He warns him that his apartment is bugged and warns him not to tell the truth. Caul ransacks his apartment for the bug and cannot find any. In the last enduring scene Caul slumps defeated and lost while the Saxophone plays on. This movie is considered a classic and was nominated for 3 Academy Awards. The highpoint was when it was awarded the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974. The Conversation was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"

What lies beneath (released in 2000) - A supernatural thriller starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford - a big hit

This movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford was one of the biggest hits of the year. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis and was highly influenced by Hitchcockian movies.
The movie starts with the troubles of Claire and Norman a well-to- do couple who move to Vermont. After her daughters departure for college Claire who suffers from memory lapses start feeling uneasy at their home. She spies one of their neighbors Warren dragging a heavy body bag and concludes that he has murdered his wife Mary. Claire confronts and accuses Warren of murder and is in turn proved false when Mary is found alive in the house. Norman, Claire's husband, a distinguished professor thinks that Claire is going senile.
Unconvinced Claire conducts a séance to channel the spirit with her friend. Soon mysterious things starts happening in her house, like things falling down, the doors slamming etc. Claire finds a missing report of Madison Frank behind one of the picture frames. She visits Madison's mother and finds out that Madison was Norman's student int the university. She comes back with a lock of Madison's hair and performs a ritual to allow the spirit to possess her. A possessed Claire seduces Norman and during the act he sees the change in her appearance. A scared Norman pushes Claire which makes her loose contact with the spirit. Slowly Claire's memory returns and she remembers her husband's affair with Madison.



Norman confesses of the affair; telling Claire that he told Madison her that he loved Claire very much and could not leave her for Madison. This forced the unstable Madison to commit suicide. Norman says that he had seen her corpse with a letter written to Claire which was burnt by him. He also acknowledges of pushing the body in to the lake to make it disappear. Claire asks him to confess everything to the authorities. Norman pretends to do so and is found out.
To get rid of Claire Norman gags and places her in the tub and fill sit up with water to facilitate her drowning. He leans forward to give her a kiss that Claire's face morphs in to Madison's corpse like face. A scared Norman hits his head on the mirror and is rendered unconscious. Claire escapes in her car to reach the authorities. Norman follows her and forces her car in to the lake where he had pushed Madison's body.
As they struggle to get out of the lake Norman Grabs Claire's legs to prevent her from escaping. But Madison's ghost appear to drag Norman down allowing Claire to surface. She escapes and Norman is drowned to pay for his sins. Claire pays her respects at Madison's grave and leaves for a new life.
This movie is so highly influenced by Hitchcock's dramatization that the critics have drawn several parallels to Hitchcock's various movies. This film was the first film for Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a pair. Harrison Ford has gone on record saying that Michelle Pfeiffer's presence was the motivating factor for his signing the film. The movie went on to become the block buster of 2000. A good spooky horror movie for all.

Witness (released in 1985) - Starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, protecting a young witness

A thriller directed by Peter Weir starring Harrison Ford, Kelly Macgillis and Lukas Haas, it was released in 1985 to critical and box office acclaim.
The plot involves a young Amish widow Rachel Lapp who is taking her son Samuel for a trip to Baltimore to see the outside world. Samuel in the rest room witness a murder of a police officer Zenovich. Samuel sees only one of the murderers who happens to be a tall black man. Rachel and Samuel are taken by the police as witnesses and are introduced to captain John Book and Sergeant Carter. Samuel as the principal witness has to identify the killer and fails to find the right man in the police line-up. As he saunters around in the police head quarters he sees a newspaper clipping of a police officer Mcfee and recognizes him as the killer.
Book reports this development to his superior, Captain Paul Schaffer and is asked to investigate further. He informs Book, that Mcfee had raided a drug hideout and did not report his findings. Zenovich was killed for investigating Mcfee's drug offenses. Schaffer advices Book to keep the report a secret, till they can find some clinching evidence.



Book escorts Rachel and Samuel to a safe hotel where they are ambushed by Mcfee. Book shoots Mcfee and realizes that Schaffer would be the traitor. Book seriously wounded decides to go in to hiding with the Lapps. He calls up Carter and asks him to remove all the files relating to the Lapp's and his investigations. Book informs Rachel about the situation and escorts them to their home in Lancaster city.
A severely wounded Book, tries to leave the Amish colony after he ha safely escorted the Lapps. But he faints having lost a lot of blood and Rachel's father in-law reluctantly agrees to keep him there. As he recovers he helps Eli, Rachel's father-in-law around the house doing small carpentry and other odd jobs. He finds it difficult to adjust to the Amish way of life, but soon it grows on him. He takes Samuel under his wing and bond starts to develop between them.
Various culture clashes happens as Book adjusts himself to the Amish way. He is forced to surrender his fire arm as the Amish believe in non violence. He does the community jobs like building towers for residents and Samuel helps him to work the machines like a silo. Book enjoys his life with the Amish and also develops a soft corner for Rachel. He also fights others who mock the Amish. Rachel and Book are attracted to each other to the discomfiture of her suiter Hockleitner. Eli and other residents also disapprove of this alliance.
Book in the mean time telephones Carter for information and the villains kill him. Realizing that the game has gone too far, he calls up Schaffer and challenges him. Soon Schaffer and Co reach Lancaster and both Mcfee and Fergie are killed. Schaffer holds Rachel hostage, but the arrival of all residents, make him realize that his game is up. Book arrests and hands him to the Sheriff. But he also comes to the understanding that he cannot be part of the Amish for ever, and returns to the world with his love for Rachel.
Witness was a box office winner and was also nominated for 8 academy awards wining two for the best screen play and editing. It was also a toast at the BAFTA Awards. A good simple movie.

Cube (released in 1997) - Now a cult movie

Imagine a movie in which you see a set of characters being put in a weird setting where they can get killed by sudden moves, where there is no recollection of why they are placed in that location, and where answers need to be figured out, and tested out one by one (and where figuring out the puzzle incorrectly can result in serious injury or death). It would almost seem like the viewer only knows as much as any of the characters, and even the characters keep on changing personalities through the movie. Combine that with the movie being made by a newbie director, and being made on a low budget, and you can consider such a movie to be a 'blink and miss' kind of movie. Movies like this come and go, and you won't miss much.
Well, Cube was nothing like that. The movie was a decent commercial success, including overseas (especially Japan and France) and is now considered a cult hit. The movie inspired 2 more movies - Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) and the prequel Cube Zero (2004). It was also nominated for a few awards (not the Academy awards though). The movie was a real low budget one, and had some complex mathematics involved if the viewers wanted to figure out what the logic being used inside the cube were.



Cube is the story of a group of people who find themselves inside a white room, cube shaped, with no idea of why they are there. When they compare their professions, there does not seem to be any commonality between them, with people being a police officer, a doctor, and so on. They resolve to move as a group and to try to escape, but are foundering about what to do. There are 6 doors in the room, one in each wall, one in the ceiling, and one in the wall. The doors lead to more rooms, and problematically, some of the rooms are booby trapped; entering could lead to a painful death - as happens to one of them when he enters a room and is sprayed in the face with acid that kills him.
The set of people are facing 2 main issues
- Quentin, the police officer and the one who seemed to be the most responsible is losing his head, and attacking the others in the group. On the other hand, Dr. Holloway, who seemed to be the most unstable at the beginning, begins to show a great deal of stability as the movie progresses
- The mathematics involving prime numbers to figure out which cube was a trap or not was complicated enough (until the idiot savant Kazan shows his great mathematical talent for doing these calculations), but then they learn that the cubes are also on the move, doing a complete movement before returning to their original position, and that the timeframe to escape is limited.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (released in 2005) - starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a movie released in 2005, but it was certainly not the first time that this term was used. It was used to represent James Bond (given the way he would use woman and kill people in his movies), and there were multiple movies and songs written with the same name. The movie name references the 1968 book, written by Pauline Kael, while the story of the movie is based on the novel by Brett Halliday "Bodies Are Where You Find Them". The movie is acclaimed as a black comedy, and satirizes the film noir genre. The movie did not have a large public release and started gaining in popularity based on favorable critical reviews. The movie earned most of its money outside the US, with a total earning of around $15 million in the box office as well as around $6 million in DVD rentals.
The movie earned critical praise, earning praise for its black comedy, with the performances by Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer earning praise, as well as the direction by Shane Black (who was more famous for his screenplays for action movies such as Lethal Weapon and Last Boy Scout).



The movie is about a small time crook, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.), who also narrates the movie and talks to the audience from time to time. Harry is running from the police after a robbery gone awry, when he stumbles into an acting audition, and so impresses the crew that he is selected and taken to Hollywood. He soon meets a private investigator named Gay" Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer), who has been deputed to help Harry prepare for his role.
And Harry also meets his long time dream girl from high school Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan), but soon gets involved in a very strange murder mystery. Now, he has to work along with Perry and Harmony for solving the case, which seems to go through all the various plots and subplots that you can find in a number of different movies. Fun to watch.