The Long Kiss Goodnight

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Director: Renny Harlin

Cast: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Yvonne Zima, Craig Bierko, Tom Amandes, Brian Cox, Patrick Malahide, David Morse

Writer: Shane Black

Synopsis:

Samantha Caine (Davis) woke up on a beach eight years ago remembering nothing about who she was or or how she came to be on that beach. The only thing she knew was that she was pregnant with her daughter Caitlin (Zima). Over the ensuing years, Samantha built the idyllic life, she became a teacher and got engaged to Hal (Amandes). When she suffers a blow to the head during a car accident, Samantha begins to remember pieces of her old life and when a crazed murderer breaks into her home in an attempt to kill her, she realizes that her past may be more dangerous than she realized. She enlists the help of low-rent private investigator Mitch Henessey (Jackson) to help her find out who she really is and why people are trying to kill her. In the process Sam and Mitch uncover a plot orchestrated by corrupt spy master Mr. Perkins (Malahide) and his henchman Timothy (Bierko) to set off a large bomb in Niagara Falls.

First Impressions:

I didn't catch this one in theaters, as it flew under the radar. I saw it after a chance rental with my friends one quiet Sunday afternoon. My first impressions of the movie were a little mixed, I thought the dialogue was sharp and funny (which is usually the case with movies penned by Shane Black) but I though the action was a bit lackluster. I purchased it on DVD around a decade ago, mostly so I could take advantage of one of those "2 for $20" deals at my local Future Shop. My appreciation for the film has grown over subsequent years but it's been a couple of years since I last saw it. Let's see how it holds up.

Story/Direction: 

"Oh, no, baby,no. You're not going to die. They are. Cover your ears. Hey, should we get a dog?"

Like most action movies, The Long Kiss Goodnight isn't exactly throwing down an in-depth or riveting story. Like I mentioned in my previous review of Hard Target, the story here is just a way to go from one action set piece to another. Where this movie shines for me is in the writing, particularly the characters, and that's due entirely to Shane Black. I've been a fan of Black's for many years, as he's been responsible for some of the best action movies Hollywood has produced over the last two decades. Black has a talent for writing interesting characters that audiences connect with, whether it's Murtaugh and Riggs from the Lethal Weapon series or Joe Hallenbeck from The Last Boy Scout, Black really knows how to write interesting characters. This movie is no different, the characters are written in such a way that viewers like them, even if they're awful people like Jackson's dirty cop-turned PI, Henessey.

Like most action writers, there are a few hallmarks that pepper most of Black's movies and they're all over The Long Kiss Goodnight. The film is set around the Christmas season, which is pretty much a requirement for a Black movie. Another Black-ism is that one of the main characters is a down on his luck PI. Of course, the main trait of any Shane Black-written film is that it always has witty and clever dialogue that adds a great deal of humor to every film. It's easy to see why the bigwigs at Marvel had Black try his hand at writing and directing Iron Man 3 because his style of writing fits in perfectly with that universe of films. His writing style always seems to hit the mark and I don't think I've seen a movie of his yet that I haven't been entertained by. 

The film was directed by Renny Harlin, who at that point in his career had some successes under his belt (Die Hard 2) and some definite failures (Cutthroat Island). Harlin is a competent action director, though I wouldn't put him up there with the greats of the genre. He does a decent job here and he keeps the film going at a good pace, spacing out the actions sequences with more quiet story-building and character-building moments.

Acting:

As I mentioned above, Shane Black excels at writing interesting characters. However, you can write the most interesting character in the world but if you don't have a good actor playing the role, then it doesn't really matter. Fortunately, The Long Kiss Goodnight has a pretty great cast. Geena Davis does a great job as the film's protagonist. In the first act of the film, she plays Samantha as a mild-mannered, somewhat quirky school teacher. As the film progresses, though and Samantha begins to remember more of her past, Davis does a good job of showing the conflict between two sides of her personality. Once her old self finally takes over in the third act, her performance edges slightly towards over the top but, all in all, it's a good turn at the character. 

Of course, I have to talk about the force of nature that is Sam Jackson. Even back, then Jackson was already one of the most prolific actors in Hollywood, showing up in at least a few movies every year (in 96, he was in five films). To me Jackson is one of the most charming actors in the business. Even when he's playing villains or other less-than-savory characters, like Henessey, he still manages to endear himself to the audience. In Long Kiss Goodnight, Jackson plays Henessey as a man who likes to think of himself as a badass, but is really a complete boob. Everything Mitch tries he essentially fails at, often spectacularly, but he's still so self assured in what he's doing that you can't help but root for him. One other note on the character, I saw Jackson in a recent interview, in which he stated that Henessey was his favorite out of all the characters hes played. Considering his body of work, that's high praise indeed.

The rest of the cast does a fine job, with the likes of fine talents such as David Morse and Brian Cox filling out the secondary characters. Although, I wasn't terribly impressed with Craig Bierko's portrayal of the film's primary antagonist, Timothy. I found his performance a bit too tongue in cheek to the point that he was almost winking into the camera at how clever he was. Other than that, though, I had no major gripes with the rest of the cast.

Visuals:

EXPLOSIONS!!! This movie has lots of explosions and lots of gunfire, like any good action flick. As I've stated numerous times, I don't tend to get too excited about explosions in movies. However, this movie has some fairly impressive kabooms but really they're no better or no worse than the offerings of any other mainstream action movie of the time. 

Aside from the pyrotechnics, the movie has a bit of an unusual feel for a Shane Black-penned story. While it's not uncommon for a Black movie to be set during Christmas time, they are usually set in California, while Long Kiss is set on the east coast. This creates some interesting visuals with the bright greens and reds of Christmas decorations contrasting against the dark and dull exterior lighting. It works pretty well and is a nice change of pace from Black's normal "Hollywood Christmas" backdrops.

Score/Music:

The music in this film was composed by the great Alan Silvestri, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite movie score composers. That being said, I wasn't terribly impressed with the score for this film. It was pretty unmemorable and I think a large chunk of the movie's music budget went towards securing the rights to several pop hits from the 70s. 

Action:

The action in this movie is pretty well done, overall. There plenty of firefights and 'splosions to keep the audience entertained and the fight choreography is well done. Harlin is certainly of the old-school style of action directing, in that he's not too quick with his cuts. So, even though the action in the film is fast-paced, the audience can still tell who's who and what's going on. 

As far as creativity goes, the movie has a lot of pretty cool and original set pieces including characters jumping out of a third-story window to escape an oncoming explosion from a grenade, as well as a well realized final confrontation on top of a giant bomb that is about to explode. All told, the action sequences were well done and a fine example of what 90s action movies had to offer.

Final Verdict:

This is one of those rare instances, where my opinion of a film has actually improved after watching it for review. It's not a perfect film by any means but it's a solid romp and worth a look. Definitely a hidden gem for 90s action movie aficionados.