The Long Kiss Goodnight

Directed by Renny Harlin, The Long Kiss Goodnight follows amnesiac Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) as she and a tenacious private investigator (Samuel L. Jackson’s Mitch Henessey) attempt to unravel the mystery of Samantha’s violent past. It’s a seemingly foolproof setup that’s employed to watchable yet increasingly underwhelming effect by Harlin, as the filmmaker, working from Shane Black’s script, delivers a bloated endeavor that rarely, if ever, lives up to the ample promise afforded by its striking, engaging opening stretch – with the picture’s arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by a growing emphasis on less-than-enthralling elements and attributes (eg a proliferation of surprisingly ineffective action set-pieces that are, generally speaking, hindered by an overuse of distressingly low-rent special effects). And although the movie admittedly benefits from its strong performances and the irresistible chemistry between Davis and Jackson’s respective characters, The Long Kiss Goodnight eventually progresses into a padded-out and completely lackluster third act that ensures it concludes on as anticlimactic a note as one could envision – which cements the film’s place as a decent-enough actioner trapped within the confines of a wildly overlong misfire.

** out of ****

Leave a comment