Review of The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) by Harry W — 04 Jan 2014

Since Renny Harlin is the director of such great action films as Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Cliffhanger, one where he worked with Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson sounded great.

The Long Kiss Goodnight has a basic story, but it is overthrown by the talented acting skills of its leads which keep the energy in it even as it charters into action-deficient territory. Although The Long Kiss Goodnight really could use a lot more action, the chemistry between its lead actors keeps it alive deep into its plot territory.

It's because since both Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson succeed as convincing action stars, there is a lot of comedic sexual tension going on between them and it plays to the benefit of The Long Kiss goodnight, and it helps to distract audiences from some of the more awkward plot dynamics. Its like if Lethal Weapon was crossed with.

And although Renny Harlin doesn't have the best grip over the plot of The Long Kiss Goodnight, he does handle the visual elements of it really well so that it's a memorable experience, more or less. With great cinematography combined with strong editing, the action proves to be entertaining the majority of the time, even if there should be more of it.

The musical score is also pretty intense and atmospheric when it needs to be which helps the flow of the film.

The Long Kiss Goodnight is essentially sexy because of Geena Davis, hilarious because of Samuel L. Jackson and intense because of Renny Harlin. Although its not much too special, these tree make their own contributions and all deserve a star for their efforts, as well as the fact that they all take the script in the right direction and nail the one-liners very successfully.

Geena Davis is a powerful lead because even though she seems primarily comedic at the beginning and plays her sex appeal well, she very quickly evolves into a convincing action star with a powerful grip on the story dramatics and an even larger sh*tload of sex appeal which just grows the better she fights. She even uses it to comedic appeal, but she uses her talent as an actress who can develop a character very well even more strongly, and so she proves to be one of the most unexcpected successful action stars ever.

The instant Samuel L. Jackson enters the screen, he immediately steals the screen and dominates a large sense of humour with his badass persona that he is known for worldwide. His stereotypical badass persona which can be described as Danny Glover angry on crack is absolutely hilarious in The Long Kiss Goodnight, and he never lets it down. He consistently single handily is the source of all the humour, and you couldn't ask for any more from him just as you couldn't expect any less from an actor of his calibre and talent.

So The Long Kiss Goodnight is an entertaining but flawed film with great leads and a script with some decent one liners.