June 9, 2023 | Rome, Italy

The Long Kiss Goodnight

By |2018-03-21T18:24:27+01:00January 16th, 2005|Reviews|
Geena Davis, Renny Harlin, Marcia Yarrow, Samuel L. Jackson

3

Date:

Director: Renny Harlin

Starring: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Craig Bierko, Brian Cox

H

ousewife Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) sure chops onions fast. And she’s a great Mrs. Santa. Tidbits make the first 30 minutes of director Renny (“Die Hard 2”) Harlin’s “Long Kiss” an unexpected delight. The mild-mannered Caine is really a CIA assassin suffering from eight- year-long amnesia. Getting a whiff of the past, she hires motor-mouth private eye Mitch Hennesey (Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate. Turns out Mrs. Santa was once a lethal weapon called Charly. Bearings in place, Harlin throttles the movie into an avenging angel stunt-fest (Davis did her own). Still, all the rolling fireballs don’t mar the snarky chemistry between Davis and Jackson.

Mitch: “Do you always curse this much?”

Charly: “What are you, a Mormon?”

Davis lost her way after “The Accidental Tourist,” or Hollywood overlooked her (Fiorentino’s fate). Either way it’s LA’s loss. She always had a great knack for comic timing.

About the Author:

A military brat, Marcia Yarrow was born in Hamburg, Germany but grew up in Germany, Spain, and Provo, Utah. She's been writing for the magazine since its creation in 2004.