Director Justin Baird’s “The Big Kiss Off” is a very charming movie with a lot of good intent behind it. Often times good intentions count for much, but they don’t always turn around a good movie. The good news is that “The Big Kiss Off” strives to be a new age PI crime comedy, and works because it really does present within it a tight narrative that is interesting, even when it falters every now and then.
Mike Case is a private investigator who is hired by the gorgeous Victoria Billows to find her missing husband Lennie whose suddenly disappeared. Little does Mike know when he takes the case, that the entire underworld is brewing with the news of Lennie’s disappearance. Including Mike’s old partner, an angry and tough detective named Lorena who is intent on finding Lennie before Mike, and will do anything to keep Mike off the case. Even if it means hurting him. Star Les Mahoney as Mike Case is funny and very entertaining as Mike Case, a gumshoe who takes his licks, and sleeps around with all the wrong women. And man, are there a fair share of gorgeous women in “The Big Kiss Off.” I digress.
Mahoney really has his finger on the pulse of Mike Case, and presents him as an interesting everyman hero who is beaten down, but never gives up on a case. Even when one of his clients storms in to his car demanding he leave the assignment alone, he just won’t back down. There’s a string of colorful characters introduced, as any common neo-noir crime drama is prone to do, and doesn’t let Mike off the hook. They’re often shady and violent individuals, all of whom writer Les Mahoney is able to expand on with great skill. Baird is also very keen on what makes the genre so interesting, and fills the screen with beautiful damsels and femme fatales, allowing Mike often interesting temptations that keep him from finishing his case.
That said, “The Big Kiss Off” definitely suffers from terrible sond, and it becomes apparent often that the actors are having their voices dubbed in external scenes. There also seems to be a ton of improv from the supporting cast, and most of it are hit or miss, with jokes falling by the wayside. The narration is also flat, which doesn’t provide “The Big Kiss Off” with enough urgency to Mike’s dilemma. In spite of the flaws, “The Big Kiss Off” really does have an idea of what kind of world its unfolding for audiences, and aims to be a classic a gumshoe mystery that ends on a funny note. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s most definitely worth a watch for experimental viewers interested in a film that winks at the crime sub-genre.