Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

A narrator introduces himself as Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.), a petty thief from NYC. He is self-aware and talks to the audience at various times through the movie. Running from the police after a botched robbery, he runs into a movie audition to escape and impresses the producers. He is brought to Hollywood and meets "Gay" Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer), a flashy homosexual private eye who has to train him for his role as a detective in a movie. Lockhart and Perry get involved in a genuine intricate murder case with many leads. At a cocktail party Lockhart meets Harlan Dexter (Corbin Bernsen), once a B-movie actor and now a very rich enterpreneur whose daughter has only recently returned from a long sojourn to Paris. Harry also meets his high school sweetheart, aspiring actress Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), a girl who never cared much for him, but now she's seeing him with new eyes. The two leave for Harry's apartment, but budding romance is squelched when Harry proceeds to have sex with Harmony's friend. Harmony, Harry, and Gay team up to solve the mystery and encounter a series of seemingly nonsensical problems. They stake out a house to take photographs for a client, but they find a corpse. From there, twists and connections abound and bodies pile up. Then they uncover the sordid truth of the case.

Many critics admire this film for its clever comedy and Downey's and Kilmer's screen chemistry and performances. Mike Russell of the Portland Oregonian wrote: "This is one of Downey's most enjoyable performances, and one of Kilmer's funniest. It's a relationship comedy wrapped in sharp talk and gunplay, a triumphant comeback for Black, and one of the year's best movies." Jeff Otto, an IGN critic, wrote that, "It takes a bunch of genres and twists them into a blender, a pop relic that still feels current...one of the best times I've had at the movies this year." The title is a reference to Pauline Kael's 1968 book, which in turn was named after a translation of an Italian poster of a James Bond movie. The screenplay was written by Shane Black who also directed.

Third Man Out (2005)

Gay detective Donald Strachey (Chad Allen) has the responsibility of protecting John Rutka (Jack Wetherall) , a controversial gay activist who outs prominent homosexual citizens. But when Strachey feels Rutka may be planning to out him, he quits the job. However, after Rutka is killed, Strachey decides to solve the murder. He asks Rutka's partner Eddie Santin (Woody Jeffreys) who the next target might have been, but Santin only knows that it might have been one of three people: Bruno Slinger (David Palffy), local children's show host Ronnie Linkletter (Sean Carey), and a mysterious third possibility identified only in Rutka's records as "Ultimate Hypocritical Asshole". Rutka finds initials for three persons who received substantial payments from Rutka: N.Z., H.G., and D.R. Through local sex worker Dik Steel (Mathew Rush), he obtains the identity of the first--Nathan Zenck (Kevin Blatch), who runs a fancy hotel, in which rooms are monitored by video cameras. Strachey confronts Zenck, who mentions that Bruno Slinger is sexually connected to Ronnie Linkletter and reveals that the second initials are undoubtedly those of Howie Glade (Richard Cox), who owns a cheap motel. The third initials remain unknown, but after interrogating Glade, Strachey finds out that Linkletter was previously involved in sexual liaisons every Wednesday night with an unknown man who was injured and possibly killed by a falling ceiling mirror weeks ago. The story goes on and on and on. Rutka is alive and reveals he has a file on Strachey, a former Sergeant in the U.S. military, who had to leave the service with an honorable discharge when his sexual orientation was revealed--at the expense of the lieutenant he was caught in bed with, who received a much more severe punishment as the scapegoat. In the end Rutka's file on Strachey is destroyed.

This made for cable TV movie is an adaptation of Richard Stevenson's book of the same name about the gay private eye, Donald Strachey. He's a detective who shares waltzes and martinis with his hubby, drives an old Toyota Tercel and can knock bad guys flat with a fast right hook. The plot is very complicated, and production values are outstanding for a TV film. Bill Buckingham and Ronnie Way composed the original music. Mark Saltzman wrote the screenplay, and Ron Oliver directed.