"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" *** (out of four): Writer Shane Black's return to the buddy-action-comedy genre is a bit too self-aware and cutesy, but it's also a darn good time.

In the annals of overpaid screenwriter burn-outs, the name Shane Black isn’t quite as infamous as Joe “Showgirls” Eszterhaus. After all but defining the action-buddy-comedy genre with “Lethal Weapon” and “The Last Boy Scout”, Mr. Black became Hollywood’s highest paid writer for the ill-fated “Last Action Hero” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight”. When those films bombed, Mr. Black (perhaps wisely) chose to disappear for almost a decade before returning with “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, a winkingly funny neo-noir treat which he himself directs.

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