After launching the “Lethal Weapon” franchise – still going strong to this day — in 1987, Shane Black shifted to writing one-off movies, but he doesn’t drop his interest in two people investigating something. In “The Long Kiss Goodnight” (1996), Geena Davis’ Samantha Caine/Charly and Samuel L. Jackson’s Mitch Henessey aren’t cops, but their pitter-patter as they drive around the Northeast and pursue answers is the film’s central appeal.
Amnesia, not romance
The title refers to Samantha’s amnesia (she’s really a secret agent named Charly), rather than a romance between the leads, whose relationship is fascinatingly platonic. Indeed, when Charly puts the moves on Mitch, it feels weird to him and he recognizes that she’s trying to lock in her badass Charly personality and push frumpy housewife Samantha out of her brain.
Black and director Renny Harlin aren’t all that interested in digging into the medical aspects of amnesia and multiple personalities, but it’s great fun to watch Davis shift back and forth. Samantha is chopping veggies for dinner with husband Hal (Tom Amandes) when her personality shifts to Charly and she starts chopping them like an expert chef. More notably, she spears a tomato through the air with a thrown knife.
“The Long Kiss Goodnight” (1996)
Director: Renny Harlin
Writer: Shane Black
Stars: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Yvonne Zima
Meanwhile, Jackson isn’t the totally cool cat you might expect. He’s a private detective who is mostly corrupt, looking for ways to get paid without doing any work. But he stumbles onto a lead about Samantha’s real identity and knows it’ll be good for his reputation if he actually solves a case.
As Davis’ character fluctuates between personalities, Henessey is a normal-guy action hero in the Black tradition; he doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but he somehow keeps surviving bad situations, although his physical pain is real.
A little like the ‘Die Hards’
“Long Kiss” is sort of like the “Die Hards” in this way, and if you forgot that Harlin directed “Die Hard 2” (1990), you’ll be reminded, especially in the final act here. He tries to outdo himself with spectacle, and the rear projection of fires and explosions don’t hold up today. Also, villain Timothy (Craig Bierko) gets a lot more attention toward the end as the action genre aesthetics take over.
Before that, the action is often good but sometimes silly. At one point, our heroes jump out a window into a river; yep, there just happens to be a river running next to the building. At another, Charly chases down bad guys on ice skates – she laces them up off-screen with inexplicable speed (Tonya Harding could’ve used her as an assistant) and the baddies just happen to drive where the frozen stream crosses their path.
Still, this remains a strong Black screenplay, even if it’s far from his best film. His adherence to the Chekhov’s Gun rule is nicely illustrated here. If something is mentioned in an offhand way, it will come into play in a creative way later. His dialog shines as always, and it’s a particular pleasure to hear Jackson deliver it.
There are arcs about Samantha/Charly learning to be a caring person (particularly in regard to her young daughter, who is totally confused by the shifting personalities) and about Henessey doing something right instead of being a screw-up. And the story’s twists and turns are enjoyable.
But mostly, it’s the rhythms of the dialog and one-liners that make “The Last Kiss Goodnight” fun to watch.