The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

A woman suffering from amnesia begins to recover her memories after trouble from her past finds her again.

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writer:

Shane Black

Stars:

Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Yvonne Zima

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Geena Davis	...	Samantha Caine (Charly)
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Mitch Henessey
Yvonne Zima	...	Caitlin
Craig Bierko	...	Timothy
Tom Amandes	...	Hal
Brian Cox	...	Nathan
Patrick Malahide	...	Perkins
David Morse	...	Luke / Daedalus
Joseph McKenna	...	One-Eyed Jack
Melina Kanakaredes	...	Trin
Dan Warry-Smith	...	Raymond
Kristen Bone	...	Girl #1
Jennifer Pisana	...	Girl #2
Rex Linn	...	Man in Bed
Alan North	...	Earl

Storyline

Samantha Caine, suburban homemaker, is the ideal mom to her 8 year old daughter Caitlin. She lives in Honesdale, PA, has a job teaching school and makes the best Rice Krispie treats in town. But when she receives a bump on her head, she begins to remember small parts of her previous life as a lethal, top-secret agent. Her old chums in the Chapter are now out to kill her so she enlists the help of a cheap detective named Mitch. As Samantha remembers more and more of her previous life, she becomes deadlier and more resourceful. Both Mitch and Charly proceed to do the killing thing, the bleeding thing and the shooting thing.

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Plot Keywords:

vomiting | shot in the head | corpse in water | chopping wood | kneed in the groin | 

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Taglines:

"...the most spectacular action scenes you've ever seen!"

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a substantial amount of strong bloody violence, and for strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Long Kiss Goodnight

Filming Locations:

Canary Restaurant, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,065,363, 13 October 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$33,328,051, 12 January 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$89,456,761, 31 December 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

Forge, New Line Cinema, The Steve Tisch Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Renny Harlin credits Craig Bierko with suggesting the song "She's Not There" by Santana.

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Goofs

When Charly shoves Mitch out of the car, he is seen rolling over and up onto the sidewalk. In the next scene, he is shown laying on his back in the street.

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Quotes

Mitch Henessey: Question. You keep saying "I this", "I that". Like well
[pause]
Mitch Henessey: it's like you don't need me anymore.
Charlie: [looks at Mitch] Good point.
[opens passenger side door]
Mitch Henessey: Hey, hey
[Charlie kicks him out of the car]
Mitch Henessey: HEY!
[Mitch rolls a couple times and ends up on the sidewalk]

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Alternate Versions

French DVD contains some deleted scenes.

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Connections

Edited into Crash Point Zero (2001)

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Soundtracks

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
(1945)
Written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne
Performed by Dean Martin
(from the 1959 album "A Winter Romance")
Courtesy of Capitol Records
under License from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

User Reviews

Needs historical perspective (even tho it's only 7 yrs old)

This movie was one of the bridges to the contemporary action movie that has no plot at all and is unabashed about that fact. It is the melding between the 90s attempt at plot and the ever-increasing tendency for all violence all the time with some hot babe shots thrown in. Viewed from the perspective of today's movies with their plasticine-looking heroes and heroines, Davis and Jackson come off as nostalgically genuine and charming.

There are some real laugh out loud moments in this movie, though, and there's a sense of joy in the script and the performances, as if they were having a good time. Action movies/TV today seem like somber enterprises where everyone takes themselves much, much too seriously. (Jennifer Garner projects, for example.)

The movie is a lot of fun and pretends to be nothing else. It was even advertised at the time as a fun movie (tho I've just now watched it, I've seen the previews recently.) I don't understand the poor reviews that seem to compare it to great, serious filmmaking when it was not even marginally aimed at that genre.