What do you get when you throw together the writer of "Lethal Weapon" (Shane Black), an Oscar -nominated drug offender (Robert Downey Jr.), a promising talent from "North Country" (Michelle Monaghan) and the only actor who can claim to have played the fantastic foursome of Batman, Elvis, Moses and God (Val Kilmer)? You get a lot of kisses, a few bangs and finally a film: "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang." Despite the light-hearted nature of its actors, characters and plot, they all insist the film is as dark and intriguing as the detective films of yore.

Black discussed his vision for "Kiss Kiss," optimistic it will be seen as more than the slapstick-action comedy he has become famous for: "I'm hoping it's different from all the other action films that come out today - It's sort of the anti-action action movie," he said.

"In real life things are different; even the stumbling and tripping and all that stuff that occurs during real violence - we try to do more of that in this movie so it feels ... like it's more of a character-driven story that pokes around and immerses you in the world of pulp."

Monaghan jokingly chimed in about the drawbacks of such a small-budget film. "I guess I had to do all of my own stunts because we didn't have any money to hire a stuntwoman," she said. Becoming antsy, Black jumped in with the benefits of the situation: "Sometimes less money means fewer limitations because there are fewer people scrutinizing it and you're more able to take risks. Actors always want to play the transsexual, child rapist, murderer, psychotic guy. And studios, of course, want the actors to play anything but that. So actors who love risk tend to make these lower budget movies."

For their part, Kilmer and Downey Jr. enjoyed working with each other perhaps a little too much, alternating hyperbolic sentiments such as: "I've admired Val - I've loved Robert - for a coon's age - since I don't know when. Since before I spoke English." They soon digress - albeit reluctantly - into serious issues, such as Downey Jr.'s Hollywood shunning. Employing a curious third-person voice, Downey Jr. said, "I was robbed, Robert. Robert has always believed that Robert creates Robert's own reality, Robert." Thankfully, Kilmer "clarified": "He's vindictive and an angry, angry man now that he's hitting his 40s. No, he couldn't be happier. I know I've heard Robert say this often of Robert - that he feels you get the roles that you're supposed to get. Literally, I don't understand what that means." Neither do we, Mr. Kilmer.

Getting back to business, the stars then discussed their fascination with the genre of their film. "I love noir. When you get into a certain level of being a fan or devotee in any discipline you start getting into the more obscure films. This has a lot of tributes to it out of the detective genre as well and 'Pulp Fiction.' It's part of the fun of the story," Kilmer said.

Luckily, Downey Jr. stepped in to make sure the mood didn't get too serious, saying of his character: "I've been prepping for Harry Lockhart my whole life, Robert. He's a thief from New York. I'm from New York. I stole stuff."

Through all the jokes and faux advice (said Kilmer to aspiring actors, "Get out while you can. It's a horrible business and if you have to ask advice, it's probably not going to work out"), one thing became clear: This movie is certainly different from anything we have seen before. "In a way, I hope that people understand that beneath the satiric level of the film that there's a genuine, really heartfelt fondness for this material. That's why I can poke fun at it, because I love it so much," Black said.