The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) User Reviews (367)

Where is "The Long Kiss Goodnight 2"????

[view_and_review · 8/10 · 26 September 2020]

Before Jason Bourne was an assassin who lost his memory there was Charlie Baltimore and she has no sequels. The way I see it, Geena Davis was ahead of her time. Yes, we'd had "La Femme Nikita" and maybe a few others, but "The Long Kiss Goodnight" was the first female kickass assassin movie I'd ever seen.

This movie went for a tandem that hadn't quite been explored: White female with Black male. I think it worked fabulously. Samuel Jackson pretty much reprised his same role in "Die Hard with a Vengeance." In there he was the reluctant and very funny sidekick. In TLKG he was pretty much the same: a low-rent private eye who was thrust into the middle of a federal game of kill or be killed.

Geena Davis, as Charlene "Charlie" Baltimore was perfect if not for her known character types. She'd always played a fragile motherly type: "The Fly," "Beetlejuice," and "Thelma & Louise" are a few examples. So she fit nicely as a spy who'd lost her memory and wound up being a small town matriarch known for her cookies and clean life. Then to see her flip and become this foul mouth, unbreakable, vicious assassin was awesome.

My only question is where is "The Long Kiss Goodnight 2"? Worse spy/assassin movies have been given sequels so why not give Charlie Baltimore a franchise?

High octane, bug budget action thriller. Very entertaining nonetheless.

[Silverzero · 8/10 · 9 March 2003]

"The Long Kiss Goodnight" is an enjoyable and very cool action thriller, and a career breakthrough for Geena Davis. The plot is very familiar to that of The Bourne Identity but so what. The fight scenes are a real treat for the eyes and the plotline is strong enough to keep you engaged for the 2 hours.

It's directed with a slick sense of style and avoids most action cliches. Geena Davis is great as an action chick and gets past her usual "good wife" role. Samuel L. Jackson is good as usual as the supporting player. The film's baddie is overly cheesy though and you can tell what's going to happen to him.

It breaks away from the usual run-of-the-mill actioners such as Commando and On Deadly Ground and is definetly one of the best actioners in years. Good fun and good popcorn entertainment. 7.4/10.

MUCH better than you'd expect

[Spleen · 8/10 · 13 August 2000]

Not a box office success; no-one really knows why. It may have failed simply because of its title. It looks as though you need a two-word tough-guy title to attract a sufficient proportion of the idiot crowd - "Die Hard", "Lethal Weapon", "Hard Weapon", "Die Lethal", etc. - talking about "the long kiss goodnight" will get you nowhere. But for once Renny Harlin has made a GOOD action movie. A large part of the reason for this lies in the fact that the central character, Samantha, earns our affection and interest early on. As she becomes Charly again, we're torn: we certainly want Charly to thwart the bad guys, and all that; but we don't want her to lose touch with Samantha in order to do so - even though we like Charly, too. Geena Davis bestows all of her considerable charm on both halves of the central character. Samuel L. Jackson plays second fiddle for a change. It turns out he's good at it. That was a compliment.

Intelligent, far superior to anything in the "Die Hard" series - if I were more cynical I'd add, "it's not surprising that it didn't do well", but I don't really feel that way; it IS surprising that it didn't do well.

Greatest female action actor -ever- bar none

[ajw4 · 25 February 2002]

I have always liked a good action movie with a woman lead, Linda Hamilton comes to mind in the Terminator series, of course Sigourney Weaver in the Alien series, and Laura Linney in The Congo,(another one of the Micheal Crichton renditions) was an excellent strong female in an action movie. But none can even come close to Geena Davis in "The Long Kiss Goodnight". She quite simply blew me away ( as well as an incredible amount of bad guys) with the way she "handled her business" in this flick. I gotta tell ya- I will love this woman forever as the result of scenes from this movie-like when jumping from what? six-seven flights up, simultaneously firing an automatic weapon in a circular pattern in order to break a hole through a frozen lake surface-at the same time dragging an incredulous Sam Jackson out the window with her. Yo, this woman, this movie is the Boom Diggie!! I could probably go on extolling this movie for at least 25 to 30 thousand words, but you know, I'd rather look at this movie than write about it, so I'm off. My advice to you is go rent Stuart Little, in case you're one of those weirdos that don't have your own personal copy at home, then follow it up with Cutthroat Island and then finish your evening with "Long Kiss Goodnight" and I guarantee you it will take every bit of will you've got in ya to keep from stalking this woman-not to mention I only found out today she was born on the exact same date as my own, 1/21/56-an Aquarius on top of everything. (Getting a little weird on ya but I had to find some way to throw that in)Don't worry Geena I am happily married with a houseful of happy Geena fans at home right now watching Mr Little! To anyone who hasn't had the pleasure, get out there and rent this film today- you will not be disappointed-to say the least! Finally-you match up Arnold vs Geena based on this movie-and you gotta go with Geena Davis-hands down- This babe is bad!This flick is sweet!

Needs historical perspective (even tho it's only 7 yrs old)

[vivesi-1 · 7/10 · 5 August 2003]

This movie was one of the bridges to the contemporary action movie that has no plot at all and is unabashed about that fact. It is the melding between the 90s attempt at plot and the ever-increasing tendency for all violence all the time with some hot babe shots thrown in. Viewed from the perspective of today's movies with their plasticine-looking heroes and heroines, Davis and Jackson come off as nostalgically genuine and charming.

There are some real laugh out loud moments in this movie, though, and there's a sense of joy in the script and the performances, as if they were having a good time. Action movies/TV today seem like somber enterprises where everyone takes themselves much, much too seriously. (Jennifer Garner projects, for example.)

The movie is a lot of fun and pretends to be nothing else. It was even advertised at the time as a fun movie (tho I've just now watched it, I've seen the previews recently.) I don't understand the poor reviews that seem to compare it to great, serious filmmaking when it was not even marginally aimed at that genre.

Decidedly silly but undeniably entertaining.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 6/10 · 26 September 2018]

A lot of 'The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)' is decidedly silly, especially when it comes to its over-the-top, tonally jarring and generally just outright ridiculous action sequences. The heroes are essentially indestructible, despite the heavy beating they both endure by the film's end, to the point that it becomes quite ludicrous they'd survive the events they do (indeed, the original script was much darker and even included a major death, which was shot but recut because of audience testing). However, there's generally a knowing vibe the the flick, one that's marked by Shane Black's signature witty banter and some almost ostentatious performances, and this allows the picture to remain fun regardless of its occasional tonal issues, its cartoonish action scenes and all its unkept mayhem (seriously, the flick has quite the body-count). It has an almost satirical feel that's compounded by the several scenery-chewing monologues, tried-and-tested genre cues and people who refer to themselves as spies with a straight face. 6/10

A Ballistic Buddy Movie

[RetroRoger · 9/10 · 13 September 2004]

This is by far my favorite action movie. But what makes it work is not the elaborate Renny Harlin explosions and shoot-em-ups. It's the Shane Black script and its deft delivery by Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson.

The chemistry between the two principals merited a sequel. Thank God it was never made. Too much danger of marring the original.

'The Long Kiss' checkerboards from quotable scene to action scene to quotable scene and back again. Never a dull moment.

This has to be Jackson's funniest role ever, and the amazing thing is that he is playing one of the most normal characters of his career. No quirky Tarantino hit-man, super-cool Shaft, or borderline psycho soldier. In TLKG, Jackson is the everyman we identify with. The poor schmuck gets dragged along on this crazy woman's odyssey to uncover the dangerous secret of her past.

Though the story claims that Davis's character, Samantha Caine is suffering from amnesia, the writer and director treat her condition as if it were a multiple personality disorder.

Samantha Caine is not just a new identity taken by the amnesiac Charly Baltimore -- she is a separate, fully-developed personality. The traumas suffered by Samantha in the first half-hour of the movie help the submerged dissociate personality of Charly to emerge again.

The materials of her past life excavated by Jackson's detective Mitch Henessey facilitate Charly's resurfacing. Good timing, too, considering the target Samantha makes of herself.

But Charly has to fight herself to remain the dominant personality. One gathers from bits of dialogue that the warrior personality (Charly) developed after her father died and she was recruited by the "Chapter".

In the eight years Charly was buried in the psyche, though, her Samantha identity developed into the dominant personality. (She's even funnier that Charly.) This was probably due to becoming a mother, because it's the reunion with her daughter that breaks Charly's struggle to suppress Samantha, leading to their apparent integration by movie's end.

It's impossible to choose a "best quote" from this film:

"Now you're a sharpshooter?"

"I saved your ass. It was great!"

"Continue dying. Out."

"I sock 'em in the jaw and yell 'Pop goes the weasel'".

And a couple of dozen more, many too raunchy to quote here.

Geena Davis looks great, and comes off as an action hero without glossing over the fact she's turning forty. (Listen to Charley's history, do the math).

Fantastic soundtrack, too. Santana, Muddy Waters, Elvis, LaBelle, Marvin Gaye.

I give 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' a 9, only because I don't believe in a perfect 10. Seen it a dozen times, and it still stays fresh. Nice twisted holiday flick to place on your shelf next to 'It's A Wonderful Life.'

You foxy bitch!

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 17 December 2009]

Samantha Caine, schoolteacher, mother, suffering from amnesia, suddenly finds the impetus to track down her former life after an attempt is made on her life. It's going to be explosive......

Absolute preposterous nonsense laced with explosions, cringe worthy dialogue and Geena Davis as an all killing assassin bitch. Is it any good? Oh yes indeed! Directed by Mr Unsubtle-Renny Harlin {Davis' then husband} and written by one Shane Black {Lethal Weapon, Last Boy Scout & Kiss Kiss Bang Bang}, is it any wonder that the Long Kiss Goodnight is ear splittingly loud and funny as hell?

Davis plays Sammy "home-maker" Caine who teams up with a superbly seedy Samuel L. Jackson as ex-bent copper, ex-convict, Mitch Henessey. Their mission, which they choose to accept, involves rekindling Samantha's past life as an assassin called Charly Baltimore and unearthing shady government conspiracies. Shot against a bitter winter backdrop on the East Coast, with the Christmas setting oddly adding potency, our wonderful duo take us on one hell of a ride. Davis excels as a sexy action heroine while Jackson is content, and impactingly so, to let Davis basically kick buttocks as he plays perfect side-kick foil. Harlin, this after the critically savaged Cutthroat Island, knows how to construct action scenes, check out the train station scene and a tanker on the run heart pumper. But it's with Shane Black's screenplay that the film primarily entertains. Full of one line zingers and role reversal put downs, you should be laughing as your eyes and ears are assaulted in popcorn bonanza.

Mindless all action fun. 7.5/10

So Underrated Yet So Great

[harlanlovestone · 10/10 · 8 June 2006]

I have seen this film probably a dozen times since it was originally released theatrically. Anyone who calls this movie trash or horrible just doesn't understand action films or recognize a good one. Perhaps to some the incidents and outcomes may seem far fetched, but in my opinion screenwriter Shane Black ( Lethal Weapon/ Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) crafted one of the most well thought out action adventures you will ever come across. Over the top or not this film flows like clockwork and the action just keeps coming. The final action sequence is one of the best I have ever seen in any film. The cast in this film crackles. Genna Davis gave a tremendous performance and its a damn shame there was never a "LKG" sequel. Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious as her sidekick Mitch a down on his luck private eye trying to help her discover her lost past and make a few bucks. If Baffles me how anyone could not like this film. It packs so many thrills and its so funny. The wisecracks in this film still make me laugh just as hard 10 years later. In my mind the first Matrix film and the Long Kiss Goodnight were easily 2 of the best and most original action flicks of the 90's. Incidentally Shane Black made a fortune when he sold this script. At the time it was the highest selling screenplay and its worth every penny. It's so sad that audiences never gave this movie a chance, cause they would have witnessed Renny Harlins best film and Genna Davis like you have never seen her before. Long live "The Long Kiss Goodnight"!!

Fun action film, great dialogue

[james_stabwest · 7/10 · 12 May 2019]

This film is not to be taken too seriously. There are plot holes, cheesy and dated special effects, and several moments where you just shake your head wondering what the director was thinking. But despite those things it has some very well thought out and executed action scenes, where they went the extra mile to make it look cool (shotgun fired at a fridge door, bad guy on fire dangling from a string of lights, etc.). Great lines from Sam Jackson, surely improvised. Genna Davis pulls off the dual personality with style. Many laugh out loud moments, whether they were intended or not. A fun film overall.

Senseless, and useless

[moonspinner55 · 3/10 · 23 November 2002]

Female assassin with amnesia is brought out of her tranquil fog when her violent past catches up with her. Half-joking/half-serious action-thriller is really just half-assed, an over-produced mess. We never get a grip on Geena Davis' character, perhaps because she really isn't given one--at least not an appealing one; Samuel L. Jackson ambles through as a sidekick (hopefully he was well-paid). Lumbering film has no focus, no point of view. The villains are right off an assembly-line and the picture's cynical undermining isn't playful, just sour and full of contempt. Overall, the film offers not much more than brightly-painted masochism, and an annoying child actress who whines and pouts like a toddler at Target. *1/2 from ****

You Either Love it or Hate it

[dbborroughs · 10/10 · 5 June 2004]

This is a film that in no way reflects the real world. Nothing in this film makes any real world sense or has any real world logic. It operates entirely in its own little world and your ability to accept it or not will determine your love or hate for this film.

I love the film.

Somewhere at the very beginning I bought into the completely unreal premise of the hit woman regaining her memory as the past comes back to haunt her. There was a moment early on where I remember accepting that this was going to be one of those movies where the heroine was going to know nothing until it was needed, despite all logic that it wouldn't happen that way. "Oh its one of those films" I said to myself and was hooked as the film took off on a wild two hour chase.

This is an action film with brain and brawn as things follow there own internal logic and you actually have to pay attention to follow some of the twists and turns. I like this a great deal and am pleasantly surprised when I bump into people who feel the same way too. People either love it or hate it, if they've ever heard of it at all.

If you like action films this is a film to definitely try. You may not like it, but it certainly worth the effort to find out

And as always, leave reality at the door.

Jackson & Davis were Fantastic Together

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 26 December 2005]

Viewed this film during the Christmas season and enjoyed this film which starts out rather calm and some what boring and then you start putting the pieces together. Geena Davis,(Samantha Caine) has a memory loss and has some flash backs occasionally, like slicing carrots and tomatoes and being very handy with putting a gun together and some bad language. Samuel L. Jackson,(Mitch Henessey), plays a con man who has other interests in Samantha and finds himself getting deeply involved with her memory loss and about this time, the film becomes full of action and people who you think are going to die, come back to life. Entertaining film, but entirely too long and drawn out, however, Jackson and Davis did a great job of performing.

Descent into Dysentery...

[Xstal · 4/10 · 9 October 2020]

Several schoolboy errors e.g. failing to consult Film Editing for Dummies and assuming your audience to be the most gullible and naive idiots to have roamed the earth since the last ice age. Yes, you occasionally need a leap of faith or two to surmount the often bizarre nonsense of the genres voids but to spend the entire film in forgiveness is unforgivable. Kiss this one goodnight and bury it deep post haste.

MORE than a GREAT action film

[Bob-45 · 30 November 1999]

Having read some of the criticisms of THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, I am beginning to wonder if we all saw the same movie. There is NOTHING in this film, NOTHING more implausible than anything in even the BEST James Bond film. WHY would Daedalus (David Morse) be alone, when he is the head of a terrorist syndicate? The answer is CLEARLY revealed in the movie. Why doesn't Samuel Jackson bleed to death when he's shot? It's COLD and SNOWING, blood pressure drops and blood coagulates easier. My gosh, you could have a similar criticism about Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in TITANIC! I've watched TLKG FOUR times and I am still LOOKING for the "plotholes" I keep hearing about, and I have marketed scripts in Hollywood. I believe TLKG is the BEST action film ever made; the only thing which comes close is DIE HARD! TLKG, while never dull, builds slowly to a virtual nonstop crescendo of action. The music is both powerful and incredibly touching. The film has memorable performances, most notably, Geena Davis and Craig Bierko. Bierko creates one of the screens most memorable villians. One would have to go back to Russell Crowe in VIRTUOSITY, or Alan Rickman in ROBIN HOOD or DIE HARD! to find another as memorable (JAMES BOND producers take note!) But more than this, the film transcends the genre of action film by it's underlying themes of duality and femininity (not feminism). Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) is a pretty typical 90s woman; a single parent, a school teacher, a homeowner, and engaged to a pleasant, if bland, fellow school teacher. Only one thing keeps Samantha's life from being perfectly "normal." Eight years earlier Samantha woke up on a beach, pregnant, suffering from a head wound and amnesia. For eight years, Samantha has been trying to rediscover her past; she lives to regret that decision. For Samantha is actually Charlie Baltimore, an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency; and the people who left her on that beach eight years before want her dead. Samantha begins a horrendous journey in which she risks not MORE than her life. Samantha Caine risks losing her identity forever in the person of Charlie Baltimore. And Charlie? What a piece of work! Charlie Baltimore is the most cold-blooded antihero I've ever seen in a movie. After all, what other "hero" ever plotted to kill her own child to cover her tracks? Charlie, short blond hair, angular figure, sexual predator, could have easily have been a man. The "masculine" Charlie holds the "feminine" Samantha in contempt. Yet, it is only by integrating "Samantha" and "Charlie" that enables Samantha/Charlie to prevail. This is more than the equivalent of "Jekyl" needing "Hyde" or "Superman" needing "Clark Kent." This is about the integration of the "masculine" and "feminine" sides in each of us to create a "whole" identity. No where is this integration more apparent than when "Charlie" wrecks the truck containing the chemical bomb. "He/She" says "Well s***k my d**k!" IMMEDIATELY after that line, "Charlie" submerges into "Samantha." But not the wimpy domestic of the early film. A strong, self-reliant, but ultimately humanistic Samantha. One simply has to experience THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT to understand this. This is one excellent film, the only movie I've ever given a "10".

Decent action-thriller

[grantss · 6/10 · 20 June 2020]

Samantha Caine lives in a small town with her daughter. Eight years ago she emerged, two months pregnant, from a nearby river with no memory of her past or who she is. She has private investigators trying to figure out those questions. Then, after a serious accident, some old skills start to return. In addition, she starts to attract the attention of some dark and shady characters.

Decent action-thriller. Great action scenes and a reasonably intriguing plot are the main positives. Geena Davis is also very good in the lead role.

Could have been far better though. Much of the intensity and intrigue is dissipated through corny one-liners, cheesy sub-plots and silly plot developments. The set up is also pretty slow, dull and painful: from the synopsis you know where the movie is going, so why drag it out? Samuel L Jackson as Mitch Henessey is mostly responsible for one-liners and his character wears quite thin very quickly.

A tighter plot, less cringy dialogue and darker, more intense tone and this would have been brilliant.

fast and furious!

[windypoplar · 6/10 · 22 April 2008]

First off let me say this isn't really my type of movie, seriously. Like "Domino"< "Pulp Fiction" and the like, I hate films where human life is so cheap! That said this is a really cool flick. Renny Harlin knows action. Geena Davis plays Samantha Caine, a seemingly normal teacher with a young daughter and erstwhile boyfriend, but she has amnesia. Soon it becomes clear she was a trained assassin! Yikes! Sam Jackson, so great he steals this movie, is the detective who helps her out.

There on the run and dangerous. The stunts are awesome, granted people can't really outrun fire, but who cares? Later Sam, now Charly Baltimore, finds her target, played icily by David Morse. Captured he tortures her on a water wheel! Great sequence! Geena looks great in her underwear and the pacing is real!I held my breath along with Charly in these shots and its awesome.

Later Charly changes her look and attempts to seduce Sam Jackson, but he knows she's just scared because she really cares about her little girl. They go up against the bad guys in one of the most awesome bridge scenes ever! Note Sam Jackson's line, "Thats right, you can't kill me Mother-" Cool.

There is an ugly plot twist near the end, but its well handled and note this is a hard "R" rating, but still a good action flick.

The perfect blend of Action, Suspense, Drama and Comedy

[cheesius · 9/10 · 11 February 2005]

I hadn't planned on leaving a review, but seeing some of the other dreadful reviews for this movie, I had to say something.

I'm not going to give away the ending or anything, but I do give away some important plot points in this review, so you should be aware of that. The short (non-spoiler) version of my review - Samuel L. Jackson and Geena Davis both kick butt in this movie, and it's a lot of fun. Watch it.

This movie is one of my favorites of all time. Geena Davis is perfect as the action heroine, torn between her existing life as a housewife and mother, and the memories that are resurfacing of her former life as a CIA Assassin. Her performance is superb as she plays both facets of this relatively complex character perfectly.

Samuel L. Jackson's performance is, as always, also excellent, as the Private Investigator that Geena Davis' character hired to look into her forgotten past. He does a great job of playing the unwitting sidekick to Geena Davis' tough character. Some of the lines he utters in this movie are the best he's ever used in any movie he's been in.

Seriously, if you haven't seen it, do. It's a fantastic story with lots of unexpected twists and turns, and it's extremely well directed and acted.

Die Hard with a Difference

[gcd70 · 6/10 · 30 May 2008]

Christmas Eve? The wrong place at the right time? Sound familiar? "The Long Kiss Goodnight" could quite easily have been a third sequel in the action series "Die Hard". Just substitute Bruce Willis for Geena Davis, put him in Niagara Falls where a group of 'black ops' are planning some terrorist activity and wammo, there you have it. And director Renny Harlin should be quite aware of the similarities.

Having helmed the second in the trilogy, "Die Harder", and being the man who directed Stallone's career resurrecting "Cliff Hanger", Harlin seems to be just the man for the job of guiding wife Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson (probably the hottest property in Hollywood at the moment) through their paces in this new action extravaganza, "The Long K.G.". Though if you ask New Line Cinema they may tend to disagree, after all they have been in court trying desperately to get out of a multi-film contract with Harlin and Davis after their "Cuthroat Island" did a big bellyflop.

Plot from Shane Black concerns a deadly femme (cross Sigourney Weaver's "Ripley" with Linda Hamilton's "Sarah Connor" and Anne Parillaud's "Nikita" and you might be close) whose severe amnesia has her believing she is a mild mannered school teacher from Pennsylvania, rather than a cold blooded assassin from the CIA. But when Charlene Elizabeth Baltimore finally remembers who she is............... well boom! You can guess the rest. In fact you really can guess the rest, as predictability sets in from here on. Hey, forget about that though, this flick ain't about storyline, its about action, and there's plenty of that to go around.

Harlin's experience in action pics shows as he sets up some fine pieces for our viewing pleasure, while both Davis, Jackson and the support cast get some good lines. Otherwise the leads aren't asked to do too much, and considering their acting capabilities (Davis in "The Accidental Tourist" and Jackson "Pulp Fiction") this is well below their standard. Samuel L. in particular seems to be finding it hard to shake off the shadow of Jules Winfield, the philosophical hit-man from "Pulp Fiction", that is if his opening scene is anything to go by. Some may call it homage, but I don't know about that. Mr. Jackson probably doesn't mind too much either way.

Special f/x are nothing short of top dollar, though editing may have been a tad under done. Cinematography is superb, hardly being able to miss with Niagara Falls as a target, while Harlin has used the end credits to throw in a sweeping, panoramic shot. Alan Silvestri provides the music.

In short, one can easily look past the numerous plot holes and enjoy a romping good time with invincible heroes, and two dimensional, obvious villains with too much charm and not enough brains.

Thursday, January 30, 1997 - Village Centre Melbourne

Clever dialogue gets me every time (no spoilers)

[lmysliwiec · 10/10 · 17 August 2004]

Definitely a movie for people who ask only to be entertained and who do not over-think their movies.

Lots of action, lots of great dialogue (e.g. fun to quote), a little intrigue, and stuff blowing up all over the place. Samuel L Jackson and Geena Davis had great chemistry. Violent, but not gory. The fact that the female part was the competent action lead is a pleasant turn-about.

Have seen the movie more than a dozen times and still enjoy it enough to put it back in my favorite films rotation every 3 or 4 months. I initially rented the movie because Samuel L Jackson was in the film, but was caught up in the events surrounding Samantha's quest to regain her memory and have never looked back.

All you cerebral folks out there -- suspend disbelief for once, take yourself a little less seriously -- you might actually enjoy yourselves!

It just keeps being enjoyable after all these years...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 10 October 2022]

Well, sitting down to watch the 1996 movie "The Long Kiss Goodnight" for the third or fourth time since it was originally released, I have to say that director Renny Harlin's movie is every bit as enjoyable and entertaining today as it was back in the day.

The storyline written by Shane Black is very enjoyable, and it is one that immediately draws in the audience and takes the audience along on an action-packed ride throughout a very nicely constructed, written and told plot and storyline. And this makes "The Long Kiss Goodnight" a very watchable movie.

And also the cast ensemble in "The Long Kiss Goodnight" makes the movie all the more enjoyable. I mean, you have Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson in the leading roles, and they carry this movie phenomenally together. And the movie also have the likes of Brian Cox, David Morse and Craig Bierko on the cast list as well.

The pacing of the narrative throughout the movie is good and rather nicely paced, and the storyline has that quality to it which makes it a movie that you can watch multiple times, and the movie keeps being as enjoyable with each viewing. I will actually say that this is definitely one of the more memorable movies of the mid-1990s.

If you haven't already seen "The Long Kiss Goodnight", then you most certainly should do so, should you find yourself with the opportunity to do so.

My rating of "The Long Kiss Goodnight" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

Kissed off

[kennethwright45 · 1/10 · 7 September 2003]

Charmless, dim, and entirely unloveable action trash with an unsympathetic protagonist, a style-free script and a pair of non-actor leads . . . but what about its bad points?

Mainly, it lacks the sense of the ridiculous that makes many equally silly actioners (eg the Terminators, Die Hards, Lethal Weapons, etc) far more enjoyable. Any humour it possesses comes in the form of crude wisecracks and comedy violence, while it plays its puerile scenario and story-line with dog-faced seriousness. On the side of positive unpleasantness, much of the action appeals to sheer sadism - one sequence combines torture with a wet-lingerie show - and there's something not far from fascism in the way it assumes our unquestioning willingness to root for a government assassin.

None of this is helped by Geena Davis's perky, smug punchability or Samuel L Jackson's standard recreation of a groovy-black-perp supporting role from an old episode of Kojak, but better performances by more likeable players would have been a waste of talent and craft. That Long Kiss Goodnight died at the cinemas like a louse in a hobo's beard is the only remotely enjoyable thing about it - it suggests that it's still possible to lose money by insulting the public's intelligence.

Sit back and enjoy the ride

[frog663 · 10/10 · 17 January 2004]

I feel extremely sad for some of the people who have been reviewing this film. It is apparent that their standards are so high that they will never be able to enjoy a film just for enjoyment sake. Or, perhaps, their enjoyment is derived from the act of picking films apart; looking for any reason at all to dislike them?

The Long Kiss Goodnight is an action film, in every sense of the word. Sure, there are holes in the plot big enough to drive a semi through, but none of them are enough to stop the flow of the film itself. I have never been a big Geena Davis fan, but I was impressed with how she was able to create two very different characters, Samantha Cain and Charlie Baltimore. In my opinion, it wasn't even necessary to have changed her physical appearance to differentiate between the two...her acting was more than enough to do the trick.

More than anything else, though, this film was Craig Bierko's. In another's hands, the character of Timothy could've been just another interchangeable villain. His decision to play him with a more casual approach was just the right counterpoint to all of the action scenes. It isn't often that you find an actor who can express himself so well with just his facial expressions...point in case: the scene in the freezer with Charlie and her daughter. Where most films would've cluttered the moment of "revelation" with unnecessary dialogue, Bierko's eyes told the whole story.

The basic plot? Thin, to be truthful. A seemingly average housewife who suffers from amnesia slowly discovers that she had been an assassin. As her memory returns, so do the people who want the assassin dead. Is she really Samantha, the cookie baking housewife, or Charlie, the cold blooded assassin? Or maybe a little bit of both? For me, The Long Kiss Goodnight was an enjoyable journey to find out.

Hey, I didn't go in expecting Hamlet

[labng · 7/10 · 31 December 2018]

This movie is exactly what it's supposed to be. It's a fun, over the top, action flick. We get the bonus that the heroic bad ass is a woman and she's in the PTA. To me there is one line that makes the entire movie. "Oh no honey, you're not going to die, they are."

A confused and boring mess

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 18 August 2016]

A largely disappointing and, frankly, stupid blockbuster action tale from the usually-dependable Renny Harlin, whose DIE HARD 2 and DEEP BLUE SEA movies I thoroughly enjoyed. While watching THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, you are required to suspend your disbelief not just for a moment, but for the entire movie as implausible event after implausible event occurs. Which is a shame, as I'd been wanting to see this movie for a long time and I had a lot riding on it.

Even the acting talents of an above-average cast are wasted in this lamentable movie. Geena Davis is attractive, yes, but her amnesic victim here is just irritating and the transformation into a blonde assassin is painful to watch - talk about miscasting. During the film's running time, Davis also has a number of ludicrous nightmares which look like they belong in a bad horror movie, complete with swirling backgrounds and dripping blood. Samuel L Jackson, who is usually dependable in whichever movie he stars, is similarly disappointing and his performance just seems to be a re-tread of his sidekick turn in DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE.

The confusing plot involves Davis and Jackson running away from various bad guys who want them dead for some reason or other. There are lots of double-crosses and a high amount of gratuitous swearing which makes the film seem even more stupid. That the movie is rubbish is a shame, as some of the action scenes - a car chase and a fight in a kitchen - are stylish and exciting. But the ending, which involves a truck crash and yet another bomb countdown, ties everything up too neatly and has the chief villain coming back from death time after time in a tired, predictable way. A confusing, boring mess is the best description I can muster for this unenjoyable tale.