The Long Kiss Goodnight

While current female action films like Furiousa and The Marvels are facing a premeditated sexist backlash, 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight remains a mysteriously beloved bit of disposable ‘90s trash.  Starring Geena Davis as an amnesiac superspy whose reemergence onto the political chess board makes her and her family a target for her previous employers - the U.S. government – this Shane Black written, Renny Harlin directed thriller is a chauvinistic wet dream full of slow-motion gunplay, perfectly choreographed explosions and plenty of dick jokes.

After living 8 years as a small-town housefrau hottie, Samantha (Geena Davis) finds out she’s actually Charlie, a highly trained assassin who disappeared into her own cover story.  But with the help of a low-rent private detective (Samuel L. Jackson), she recovers her identity – and her special set of skills -  just in time to foil a terrorist plot, bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan!

Shane Black made a career out of snippy dialogue and mismatched partners, but The Long Kiss Goodnight is somewhat of a “try hard” situation.  Brian Cox gets the best lines but he dies too soon.  Sam Jackson has his moments.  But Geena Davis is simply embarrassing as her snarling alter ego, instructing her daughter on the finer points of ice skating with words of wisdom like “Life is pain!” Luckily, director Renny Harlin gives the material a nice sense of scale and tongue-in-cheek ridiculousness that wipes the slate clean.  His action scenes are fresh, fun, always oversized and  blessedly free of CGI enhancements.  This is ‘90s action at its best and worst.

Arrow Video gives this one a special edition worthy of a Smithsonian exhibit, sporting a brand-new 4K restoration and a whole 2nd disc of new special features: three crew interviews, three visual essays, two audio commentaries plus all the deleted scenes and archival material from the previous release.  Beyond the 4K Ultra HD presentation, which is spot-on work, a big selling point will likely be the packaging which adds a collector’s booklet, postcard and stickers.

 

  

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