Review of The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) by Sowmya P — 16 Apr 2013

Directed by Renny Harlin, who at the time had just made the biggest flop of all time, Cutthroat Island (1995), which went way overbudget and suffered numerous problems. Looking for something simpler, Harlin took on this action-thriller written by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon (1987) and The Last Boy Scout (1991)).

It's a very good and very successful action film with some good set pieces. In the town of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, school teacher Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) is a pillar of the community, but 8 years before, she suffered amnesia and can't remember her life before that, however, after a car accident and she starts to show skills and abilities that she didn't know she had, but when escaped convict "One-Eyed" Jack (Joseph McKenna) tries (unsucessfully) to kill her, private investigator Mitch Henessey (Samuel L.

Jackson) ends up trying to help Samantha remember who she was, and they find out from Dr. Nathan Waldman (Brian Cox) that Samantha was a CIA Assassin called Charlene Baltimore. Now the CIA want to silence Samantha/Charlene, but she goes on the run.

It's got some good set pieces, with Davis kicking ass and Jackson getting all the best wisecracks. Harlin handles the action well, and it manages to mix brains and brawn well along the way, it was one of the last great action films before it all went PG-13.