The script is partially based on the Brett Halliday novel Bodies Are Where You Find Them (1941), and interprets the classic hardboiled literary genre in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.

[2] Harry Lockhart unintentionally wins a screen test in New York City by showing remorse in an audition for a botched burglary he committed, which casting director Dabney Shaw mistakes for method acting.

At a party there, Harry meets his childhood crush Harmony Lane and "Gay" Perry van Shrike, a private investigator hired to give him on-the-job tutelage for his screen test.

Party host Harlan Dexter, a retired actor, has recently resolved a feud over his wife's inheritance with his estranged daughter, Veronica.

Noticing a female body in the trunk, Perry shoots the lock in a rescue attempt, but accidentally hits the corpse.

In hospital, the trio learn Jenna committed suicide after witnessing Harlan having sex with Veronica's replacement, believing her "new father" was also incestuous.

Following the poor box office of The Long Kiss Goodnight and a rejection letter from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Shane Black decided he would attempt something out of the action genre.

[8] Old detective novels were a major influence, with Black saying he tried to re-invent the genre "using realistic characters, in a modern setting, but with the spirit of the 1950s and 1960s".

[10] The script, then titled You'll Never Die in This Town Again, was rejected by various studios before Joel Silver, who gave Black his first break producing Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout, decided to help him.

[13] Downey was eventually cast as they liked his readings and knew he could fit into the small $15 million budget, as his career had been in a downfall following his time in prison.

[13] To achieve a neo-noir look, Black screened 1960s films of the genre, such as Harper and Point Blank, to cinematographer Michael Barrett and production designer Aaron Osborne.

The website's critical consensus reads: "Tongue-in-cheek satire blends well with entertaining action and spot-on performances in this dark, eclectic neo-noir homage.

[21] IGN critic Jeff Otto wrote, "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.

"[22] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter praised the lead performances, saying "Downey and Monaghan are wonderful at playing characters that compensate for the harshness of their past with flippant swaggers.

"[23] Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, "Once again making a diverting but insubstantial movie look better than it is, Downey, with haggard charm to burn, is winning all the way.