Quick Info
I have a real soft spot for 90s action films that don’t take themselves too seriously, and The Long Kiss Goodnight is pretty much the gold standard for that breed. Gina Davis stars as a suburban mom with amnesia who slowly remembers she used to be a deadly government assassin. Samuel L. Jackson is wildly entertaining as a down-on-his-luck private eye who gets tangled up in her increasingly violent reawakening. The setup sounds a little silly, but honestly? The movie knows it, and it has fun running with the premise.
The real star here is the script from Shane Black. You can feel his fingerprints everywhere: the snappy dialogue, the Christmas setting, the mix of deadpan, buddy-comedy exchanges with eyebrow-raising violence. There are so many small, quotable moments you’ll want to repeat after the credits roll. You can also tell Black wrote it before he got a little self-indulgent in later films.
The pacing is quick, for better or worse. There’s rarely a moment when things slow down, but it comes at a cost. Some plot twists feel a bit forced just to keep the energy high, and if you look at it with even a tiny bit of realism, your eyes might roll out of your head. But once you’re along for the ride, it’s honestly hard to care.
Gina Davis is a surprise action hero. She pulls off the transformation from soccer mom to ice-cold killer with more complexity than you’d expect. There’s one scene with a hallway full of goons, a pie, and some kitchen utensils that I won’t spoil—the way she handles it is laugh-out-loud fun and genuinely badass. Jackson, for his part, is in peak ‘90s form here. He gets the chance to be both hilarious and slightly pathetic, and it’s a blast to watch him bounce off Davis.
What doesn’t work? Sometimes the tone gets a little jumbled. The film can’t quite decide if it wants to be a parody or a genuine action thriller, and a couple of emotional beats just don’t land. The villains, too, are pretty much mustache-twirling caricatures. Still, any time things start to wobble, the chemistry between Davis and Jackson gets the whole thing upright again.
The cinematography is rough-and-ready—honestly, a bit dated by today’s standards—but there’s a practical, explosive feel to the action that’s pretty rare now. There are real cars, real explosions, and a couple of stunts that look like they actually put someone in the hospital. In a world of too-slick, CGI action, that’s worth celebrating.
The R8 Take
If you love fast-talking buddies and old-school, over-the-top action, this is a blast. It lands somewhere between Lethal Weapon and Die Hard With a Vengeance, with double the attitude and twice the fun.
