Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) is basically a decent guy. Sure, he's a petty thief who skates through life on a shaky cocktail of dog-eared charm and cockeyed optimism, but he wants to do the right thing. He just doesn't know how, exactly.
Harry's perpetual bad luck takes a turn for the better when he and his partner are doing some after-hours Christmas "shopping" at a New York City toy store and the security alarm breaks up the party. In making his frantic getaway from the cops, Harry inadvertently stumbles into an audition for a Hollywood detective movie, and faster than you can say Jack Robinson, the producer flies him to Los Angeles for a screen test.
Thrust into the cutthroat world of L.A.'s pros, cons, losers and wannabes, Harry is teamed with tough-guy private eye Perry van Shrike (
Val Kilmer), AKA "Gay Perry," to prepare him for his screen test. Gay Perry is ruthless, relentlessly tough and -- you guessed it -- gay. He also has little patience for Harry, who tries out his acting skills by passing himself off as a detective.
It seems like nothing short of destiny when the thief trying to be an actor impersonating a detective crosses paths with Harmony Faith Lane (
Michelle Monaghan), an aspiring actress who needs his help. When the mysterious suicide of Harmony's sister intersects with a seemingly unrelated case that Harry and Gay Perry are investigating, they suddenly find themselves embroiled in a real-life murder mystery.
Offbeat, funny and quirky. If you want something that follows the standard hollywood format look somewhere else. In short, I loved it!
I must be on a different wave length...it wasn`t funny or thrilling or anything......I wish I`d spent my time doing something else!
Didn`t really like the narrative style..a bit confusing at first. Too far fetched how the main characters met up again. Downey is great in small doses, however, too much of him can be irritating. Absolutely loved Kilmer, talented as always. I did like that it was a suspence movie that did explain itself in the end.