Customer Reviews

The Long Kiss Goodnight

5 star:		(106)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Okay, so sometimes I call this movie "The Long Kiss Goodbye" instead of "The Long Kiss Goodnight," but that does not detract from the fact this is one of my favorite action films from the post-"Die Hard" era (yes, more than "Speed"). The hook is fairly simple: Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) has had amnesia for eight years when suddenly Mitch Henessey (Samuel L. Jackson), the fourth-rate private investigator she hired to work on her case, actually stumbles over a clue. However, that becomes rather academic when some guy comes bursting through Samantha's front door trying to kill her and she dispatches him on pure reflexes.

What we have in this film are the requistie elements for a great action film: interesting characters, memorable dialogue, and great set pieces for the action. Geena Davis comes on like a next generation Sigourney Weaver, going through a fairly intense gamut of emotions as her new life collides violently with her old one (I think this might have been the film were Davis learned her hand/eye coordination was good enough for her to take up archery on a level just below Olympic caliber). Then there is Samuel L. Jackson: is there another action in America today who curses as well as this guy? Every time he swears it comes across as character development rather than profanity (okay, really kewl profanity, the type our parents would never want to hear coming out of our mouths). Think of this as a buddy film where the buddies have neither gender nor race in common.

The supporting cast features Craig Bierko as Timothy, a terrorist who prides himself on knowing when somebody is lying to him, Brian Cox as Dr. Nathan Waldman, the person who knows the truth about Sam, and David Morse as Luke, another important person from her past. The government as boogey man comes into play yet again in this film, but that old chestnut is not central to the fun and games. Despite Jackson's profanity laced tirades (although Davis holds her own at times), most of the really great lines in this film are not obscene. To make lines like "Chefs do that," "I took lessons," and "Am I lying?" great lines, you have to set them up in term of the characters.

The bottom line is nicely expressed by Henessey's character early in this film. When it comes to judging the quality of "The Long Kiss Goodnight," never make an assumption, because when you do, you make an "ass" out of "u" and "mption." You will not fall asleep during this film.

Quite frankly, I'm surprised that more people don't know about this movie. The plot has been worked to death in many regards, but this movie offers much more than other books and movies of its type ("The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum and "Code to Zero" by Ken Follet are both "spies with amnesia" stories.)

What makes this movie so different? It's that the Samantha Kane character is cold-blooded, ruthless, and has no regard for human life. In short, she's much more effective in what she does than Ludlum's or Follet's characters.

The movie is filled with suspense and plot twists, but its strongest points are the action scenes. Many movies of this type get bogged down in explosion after explosion (like "Lethal Weapon 4"), but "The Long Kiss Goodnight" manages to keep its momentum throughout the entire movie. I've never met a person who didn't like this movie--the problem is getting people to realize that it exists in the first place.

Apparently the so called "Movie critics" didn't take a liking to this movie that much, but ya know what? Screw 'em! This movie is pure, unadulterated fun! Samuel L. Jackson in his most dialogue funny role since Pulp Fiction plays a down on his luck PI who just happens to stumble across a pretty school teacher(Geena Davis) who, when her memory served her, was a ruthless spy! This movie is hilarious with plot twists to boot! No one directs an action movie like Renny Harlin, he just goes all out and you find yourself almost questioning whether or not you are watching a cartoon. Fantastic explosions, great one liners and a really cool story. This is one of those must see movies of the 90's, so don't listen to what the critics say check it out for yourself!

Some people need to lighten up a tad. I am sure no one was expecting this to be some serious spy movie -- it's just an action flick with a female lead. And since when are action flicks noted for their realism anyway? The genre is by definition prone to violence and exaggeration. Why is it so horrible when the lead is a female? This movie is over the top what with all the stunts, explosions and crazy situations, but it is entertaining nontheless.

Geena Davis is awesome here as CIA-trained assassin Charlie Baltimore who has amnesia and has settled down as a suburban mom Samantha Cain. Hitting a deer with her car sets in motion the sequence of events that lead to her regaining her memory and resuming her old life. Nearly overnight she morphs from a sweet little PTA Mom to a cussing blonde killing machine. She teams up with a hapless PI (Mitch Hennessy) played by Samuel L. Jackson and the two of them get into some really ridiculous situations. Jackson is the perfect sidekick with his hilarious lines and those bad clothes.

This movie is worth the price for the dialogue alone. I love the part where she tells her tormentor that he is going to die screaming -- this is said while is locking her in some storehouse where she is left to freeze to death with her child. She even smiles when she says it and asks him "Am I lying,?" since this particular bad guy claims to know whenever someone is being untruthful. Sure enough, he dies screaming like a banshee after a few rounds of semiautomatic weapon fire and a fall from a helicopter. Charlie even urges him along with "Die screaming Mutha ...."

I like the scenes with her daughter because the poor kid had to wonder what in the world was up with her mom. After the child falls down while ice skating, Charlie doesn't do the traditional soothing mom routine. Nope. She grabs the girl by the shoulders and snarls "Life is pain. Get used to it." Not exactly June Cleaver material. But see that came in handy later because when Charli is about to give up in the end, the little girl uses that same line on her and commands her to get up and get herself together.

Maybe this is kind of cheesy movie, but I still liked it. For once we see a woman who is not the poor little damsel in distress. She is not waiting on a man to save her -- she's the one saving the man's hide. There is a scene where Hennessy, bloodied and bruised and being held at gunpoint, tells Charlie "I'll be waiting right here for you to save me. She says "I'll be just a minute." While this movie probably has absolutely no redeeming artistic or moral value, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Good heavens, where do they get these 'essential' Amazon reviews anyway? Sheesh. Nothing like a good dose of pomposity to motivate a reply. This movie isn't supposed to be taken remotely seriously, please. It's a goof--and a very skillful one. Sure, the plot's a mismash of twice-reheated devices, the baddies are about as subtle as week-old meat, and to watch at all requires you suspend enough disbelief to reconsider the Easter Bunny as gospel. So what? You don't go to movies like Lethal Weapon for the depth of characterization. Yes, a bit helps, but... not too much. Same holds true here. It's easy to ridicule--but it's easier to enjoy.

Movies like Long Kiss Goodnight are made or broken by virtue of their scriptwriting, and the script for LKG can more than hold its head up alongside other genre staples. A good script determines how willing an audience is not only to watch a movie--but rewatch it. (And buy it, for that matter.) Long Kiss Goodnight offeres a lot of pleasure in this department, it's got more quoteable lines than Die Hard and--yeah, let's be frank: the lead's hotter. (A perhaps more up-to-date comparison for tone would be Speed.)

The crux of the arguments over the film's virtues, however, is & I suspect will remain whether you buy--or want to buy into--the idea of doing this kind of film as a girl-thing in the first place. (Like anyone questions the validity of the premises behind James Bond movies? Come on. This is really very simple: if you enjoy films where women kick @**, you'll very likely enjoy this. If the mere idea makes your lips purse with disapproval, skip it & move on.) Not to mention--what better place to subvert expectations than at the movies?

Though the script may be better than usual, what really sells the film is Davis & Jackson--they have killer chemistry. Their scenes are filled with some terrific lines, but more than that, it's about delivery; they parry quips and insults with a good-natured banter that goes beyond making even the implausible character of Samantha almost believable: it's just plain fun watching two actors at the top of their game play off each other. No reason to turn up one's nose at A-grade actors in B-grade movies; I seem to recall some truckers-in-space thing years ago... Alien, was it?

The movie loses a bit of momentum towards the end when it makes a feeble pass at Message, but that's easy to shrug off--the editing's otherwise tight and the pace is just what it should be, fast with breathing spots. The special effects work. Because the film's pretty retro in terms of plot & setting it generally hasn't dated much, and the buddy-twist here is a much-needed change from the usual guyfests. Last, the soundtrack is excellent, I'm always amazed when a wise choice can bring something like She's Not There back from the dead. The only shame is that the album soundtrack lacks a lot of the best selections from the film, which demonstrates much taste in southern blues.

Finally: Ok, yes. That thing with the shot glass? too cool.

I love this movie!!!! It's got suspense, a twist, wry, witty humor, guns, and things blowing up! Oh, and don't forget CIA cover-ups and an assasin turned school-teacher turned assasin--pretty much everything you need for a night of good fun!

Who would think of Geena Davis as an action hero? She totally amazed me when I first saw The Long Kiss Goodnight. Of course we can all picture her as a grade-school teacher and mom, but her transformation to a ruthless killer with some funny one-liners is well-executed. And the chemistry between her and Samuel L. Jackson is good. He is the perfect foil for her. He gets some of the best lines in this movie. Please humor me while I share a couple of Mitchell Hennessey quotes(I'm doing this from memory rather than re-watching the DVD, so forgive me if I miss a word in there):

"Do you normally curse this much?...when I met you, you were all like, 'Oh, Phooey, I burned the darn muffins.' Now, you walk into a bar and ten minutes later, sailors come running out. What up with that?"

"What [she] failed to realize is that I'm always frank and earnest with women. In New York I'm Frank and in Chicago I'm Earnest."

You've got to love Samuel L. Jackson. I would have thrown in more quotes, but some of them are unsuitable for eyes & ears under 13. There is also a good performance by Craig Bierko who is cute but quite believable as a cutthroat murderer.

The music on this film is also good. Part of why I liked it so much is the 70's/80's songs that are used. It's hard to describe the songs, but they just fit really well with this movie.

The Long Kiss Goodnight is great fun because it's actually FUNNY. The humor is intelligent. It's not like some action films where you are hit over the head with idiotic banter that has no meaning . You could actually repeat several of these jokes outside of the context of the movie and get someone to laugh. I definately recommend it.

OK This is one of my favorite action movies, and I find it hard to see how that reviewer found it "repulsive". I remember waking up in the middle of the night and flipping channels and finding this movie. I had already missed the beginning, but it drew me right in and I ended up watching the rest of it. The next morning I was online trying to find it because I had no idea what the name was. I found it today on Amazon and the price cannot be beat! If you haven't seen this yet, give it a chance-Geena Davis is terrific!

Finally this movie is released on blu ray in its proper aspect ratio! Tired of watching it in 1080i and in a 1.78 cropped aspect ratio, actually I shouldn't use the word crop because its Super 35, so they just opened the bottom of the frame so you see more on the bottom (always hated fake letterboxing). Anyway this blu ray, like the DVD shows the movie in 2.35 aspect ratio. The video is minor upgrade to DVD clarity wise, but not the Wow! factor we come to expect from 1080p blu ray. The problem could be that Warner/New Line used a single layer disc (25 GB) and not the superior 50 GB disc. Why would they, when the only thing on this disc is the movie and a theatrical trailer. I cannot believe Warner released this the way they did. Don't pay the outrageous price Amazon is asking. I got mine under 14 bucks at Best Buy. For this price its worth the upgrade. The soundtrack is still one of the better ones! All in all, even with the minor video upgrade over DVD, its still a good buy at cheap price...just wish it was better blu ray presentation. Stop being cheap Warner!

One of the best girl power movies. Geena kicks butt big time in this action movie about a beautiful mother name Samantha Cain who was born 8 years ago on a beach in New Jersey with no memory of who she was. A freak accident on Christmas Eve stirs up some memories but it isn't until her past comes calling via a few men, who recognize her on the television (looking all gorgeous on a Santa Parade float), who want her dead. The experience jogs her amnesia and her body picks up where it left off. Charlie is her name and killing is her game. And she's good at her job, much to the surprise of everyone around, including her new beau and 8 year old daughter. Now she's on the run trying to keep herself alive while grasping for each new memory trying to figure out exactly why they want her dead. This is one of my favourite Geena Davis films.

I didn't want to go to this movie when it was first in the theatres as I had heard bad things but a friend got me in for free and insisted I must go and that I will love it. I reluctantly went and to this day - I must say this is one of my all time favorite movies....

I went back and read the other reviews - yes, Sam and Geena were excellent but the character not mentioned who I felt stold the movie was the Professor that trained Charlie - that scene with the dog - I cried from laughing so hard and after the three story jump scene "...and tomorrow we go to the zoo."

How fun and refreshing - an action that knows how silly that genre is and nice to a strong heroine whose hair does not remain perfect through the movie as is the case in most!

Have since gone back and seen this movie AT LEAST a dozen times.