The Long Kiss Goodnight (2011)

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.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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