Geena Davis stars as an amnesiac woman who begins to remember about her past as an assassin in the action thriller The Long Kiss Goodnight.
This is the sort of story that's been done countless times before, with an individual learning that they have extraordinary abilities that they can't remember having, and also discovering that they're involved in some dark conspiracy. However, Shane Black's energetic screenplay, and great acting allow this to carve out its own identity.
In particular Geena Davis is superb here, as she manages to establish distinct and contrasting identities as Samantha Caine, the amnesiac schoolteacher, and Charly Baltimore, the lethal government agent. Her physical acting and body language really convey a huge difference between her two identities, as well as making her a compelling protagonist.
Samuel L. Jackson also brings his usual crackling charisma to the table as a private investigator Mitch Henessey who was initially helping Sam figure out who she was. Davis and Jackson have great chemistry here, especially with some funny conversations they have, making you want to stay with them the whole way through the runtime.
Craig Bierko should also get a mention as a superbly smug bastard of an antagonist, who looks like he had a lot of fun playing that sort of role.
As mentioned before, Black penned the screenplay here, and the main draw is his engaging dialogue, which makes any interaction between characters immensely entertaining. He also packs in some nice reveals in the narrative to keep you involved in a story that's mostly straightforward.
Surprisingly the action is actually quite restrained overall, but what there is is constructed with solid flair and staged in an engaging manner. The climax features the appropriate amount of bombast as story like this requires to finish off proceedings, including a chase with a tanker, and Davis pulling herself up by some Christmas lights to shoot at a helicopter.
I do have some issues, mainly dealing with a short point in the story where Sam transitions back to her previous identity of Charly, and the narrative becomes aimless where the villains are forcing the characters into action rather than the protagonists providing impetus to the story. Thankfully this only lasted about ten minutes, and it was back on track leading to the climax.
I also would have liked to see a little more of Brian Cox's Nathan Waldman, who is introduced as being Charly's mentor but is only in around 4-5 scenes.
Final Verdict
With great performances, an entertaining screenplay and solid action, this is a great way to spend two hours and it is an underappreciated gem in Shane Black's and director Renny Harlin's filmography.
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