Honestly, if you haven't seen Geena Davis casually toss a chef's knife into a piece of fruit from across a kitchen while looking like a tired PTA mom, you haven't lived. We're talking about The Long Kiss Goodnight. It’s a 1996 flick that basically tried to rewrite the rules of what a female action star could look like. It didn't quite work at the box office back then, but man, has it aged like a fine wine.
Geena Davis plays Samantha Caine. She's a sweet, amnesiac schoolteacher in a small town who suddenly realizes she can break a man’s neck with her bare hands. Turns out, she’s actually Charly Baltimore, a top-tier CIA assassin. It’s a wild ride. You've got Samuel L. Jackson as a low-rent private eye named Mitch Hennessey, and their chemistry is just... chef's kiss.
The $4 Million Script and the "Flop" Label
People love to talk about the money. In the mid-90s, screenwriter Shane Black was the king of the "spec script" gold rush. He sold the script for The Long Kiss Goodnight for a record-breaking $4 million. That was unheard of. It put a massive target on the movie’s back before a single frame was even shot.
Then there was the "Renny Harlin factor."
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Harlin, who was married to Davis at the time, had just come off Cutthroat Island, which was a legendary disaster. It sank a whole studio. Because of that, the industry was basically waiting for The Long Kiss Goodnight to fail. It didn't actually lose money—it made about $95 million worldwide on a $65 million budget—but in Hollywood terms, it was treated like a leper.
But here’s the thing: the movie is actually great. It’s loud, it’s foul-mouthed, and it’s unapologetically violent. It feels like a Shane Black fever dream, complete with his signature Christmas setting and witty, rhythmic dialogue that snaps.
Geena Davis Did the Work
This wasn't some "actor stands in front of a green screen" situation. Geena Davis went all in. She did a huge portion of her own stunts, which is wild when you see the scale of the action.
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There is this one scene where they jump out of a building into a frozen lake. To film it, they actually cut a hole in the ice in Ontario. It was something like -37 degrees. They had to put a hot tub inside the frozen lake just so the actors wouldn't get hypothermia immediately. Samuel L. Jackson later said it felt like being hit in the head with a sledgehammer. Davis did that jump multiple times.
That dedication shows. When Charly Baltimore starts emerging from the "Samantha" persona, you see it in her eyes. The transformation from a soft-spoken mother to a blonde, chain-smoking killer is one of the best character arcs in 90s cinema. She doesn't just "become" a hero; she discovers a monster living inside her and decides to use it for something good.
Why It Matters in 2026
We get a lot of female-led action movies now, but many of them feel... sanitized? A bit too polished?
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The Long Kiss Goodnight is messy. Charly Baltimore is kind of a jerk. She’s cold. She’s scary. She swears at her kid. It’s a complex look at identity that most modern blockbusters are too scared to touch. It was "woke" before the word was a weapon, simply because it let a woman be a fully realized, flawed human who happened to be the most dangerous person in the room.
If you’re looking for a flick that balances 90s practical effects with genuine wit, this is it. It’s not just a "cult classic" to be polite—it’s a genuinely superior action movie that got caught in the crossfire of bad timing and industry politics.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs
- Watch the Director's Cut if possible: It preserves more of the cynical edge that Shane Black intended before the studio softened some of the darker beats.
- Look for the Shane Black tropes: From the Christmas setting to the "mismatched partners" dynamic, it’s a masterclass in his specific style of screenwriting.
- Compare the Stunt Work: Next time you watch a CGI-heavy Marvel movie, pull up the bridge explosion or the ice-lake jump from this film. The physical weight of the stunts is palpable.
- Double Feature Idea: Pair it with Thelma & Louise to see the incredible range of Geena Davis as a physical performer.
Don't let the 1996 box office numbers fool you. Find a copy, turn up the volume, and enjoy Samuel L. Jackson screaming about "ham on rye" while Geena Davis saves the world.