Shane Black Week: The Long Kiss Goodnight

I know I will get some grief for this, but Samuel L. Jackson's turn in "The Long Kiss Goodnight" is one of his most iconic roles. Moreso than hitman Jules in "Pulp Fiction", moreso than his "hold onto your butts" computer nerd/velociraptor meal in "Jurassic Park", and far moreso than his "I GOT EATEN BY A SHARK!" role in "Deep Blue Sea".

***Segway alert: Renny Harlin, director of "Deep Blue Sea" also happened to direct "The Long Kiss Goodnight". Suck it Knowles***

The Long Kiss Goodnight (TLKG) is your classic story of a single housewife/mother, who is slowly beginning to realize she used to be a CIA assassin named Charly Baltimore. Sam Jackson plays the private eye hired by "samantha", the housewife, to figure out some details about her past only to get caught up in the fireworks as Charly Baltimore/Samantha's old bosses find out she is a live and come back to put a bullet in her head. The story is actually quite a strong element in the film. Black's script does a great job of moving the story forward intelligently as the two leads go from clue to clue. The viewer actually cares about these characters and are actually a bit torn in watching Geena Davis' Charly/Samantha character make a choice in what life she wants to ultimately lead.

Now, the action in the movie is really really solid. Renny Harlin was fresh off his super bomb "Cutthroat Island", and re-teamed with his then wife Geena Davis for TLKG. Harlin has gotten a lot of crap over the years, but I feel his take on Die Hard 2 was fantastic, and he has another real gem in TLKG. The action is smooth, easy to follow, and exciting. Harlin puts together a lot of nice setpieces that showcase Charly Baltimore's skill at killing. I think the water torture scene will stick out for many as a real favorite.

When you watch this movie now, many people will see a lot of similarities to Kill Bill and/or La Femme Nikita. While the idea of a woman looking for revenge is not new, after seeing this movie I think you will lose a little respect for Tarantino's movie. I already felt that Kill Bill was too full of homage and lacked real substance. Seeing how well thought out and planned TLKG was, I disliked Kill Bill even more. Tarantino could have learned a real lesson from this film (especially on the action front).

I think coupled with a classic Shane Black script and Renny Harlin's above average direction The Long Kiss Goodnight is easily a contender for a slot in the "best action films of the 1990's" argument. A lot of people did not see this movie, and I think a lot of it had to do with "Cutthroat Island's" headline grabbing losses it caused the studio. People read about what a flop that movie was, and then you have the same director and same lead actress and you have built in negative PR. Luckily, we are far enough away from the 90s where none of that movie politics matters. I highly recommend this film if you are a fan of Black (many of his fans call this his best movie), a fan of Davis (she gives a great dual performance and looks quite good), or a fan of Jackson (his best role ever).

Favorite line in the movie: Sam Jackson's Character crashes through a blockade to get to Charly and her daughter yelling, "YOU CAN'T KILL ME MUTHA FUCKERS!"