Shane Black got paid $4 million for this script. Think about that for a second. In 1995, that was an absolutely astronomical, record-breaking sum of money for a pile of paper, but once you watch The Long Kiss Goodnight, you kinda start to see why. It’s loud. It’s violent. It features Geena Davis transitioning from a small-town schoolteacher into a chain-smoking, blond-haired assassin named Charly Baltimore. Honestly, it’s a miracle this movie exists in the form it does, sitting right at the intersection of high-concept 90s action and blistering, witty noir.
Directed by Renny Harlin—who was coming off the massive financial crater that was Cutthroat Island—this film had everything stacked against it. People wanted to write it off before they even saw the first trailer. Yet, decades later, it’s the one people keep coming back to. Why? Because it’s smarter than it needs to be.
The Amnesia Trope Done Right
Most amnesia movies are boring. You spend two hours watching a protagonist look confused in mirrors. But The Long Kiss Goodnight skips the moping and goes straight for the jugular. Samantha Caine is a suburban mom in Pennsylvania who can’t remember anything before eight years ago. She’s happy. She makes Rice Krispie treats. She’s "the helpiest person in town."
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Then she hits her head in a car accident. Suddenly, she’s slicing vegetables with a speed that would make a Michelin-star chef weep and realizes she knows how to break a man’s neck with her bare hands.
The script doesn't treat this like a tragedy; it treats it like a rebirth. When Samuel L. Jackson enters the frame as Mitch Henessey, a low-rent private investigator, the movie finds its soul. This isn't the slick, cool Jules Winnfield version of Jackson. Mitch is a guy who wears bad suits and tries to steal credit cards. The chemistry between Davis and Jackson is the secret sauce here. They aren't falling in love. They are two desperate people trying to survive a conspiracy that involves "Operation Honeymoon" and a plot to stage a terrorist attack on U.S. soil to increase CIA funding.
Why Geena Davis as Charly Baltimore Was a Revelation
Action heroines in the mid-90s were often just "the girl version" of male archetypes. Geena Davis did something different. She played two distinct people. Samantha Caine is soft, maternal, and kind. Charly Baltimore is cold, calculated, and frankly, a bit of a jerk.
Watching the physical transformation is wild. Davis, who is nearly six feet tall, actually looks like she could win a fight. She performed many of her own stunts, including the infamous scene where she jumps out of a window into a frozen lake while firing a machine gun. Renny Harlin pushed the production to its limits. They shot in Ontario during a brutal winter. That’s real ice. That’s real shivering.
The nuance Davis brings to the role is usually overlooked by critics who just see the explosions. There is a specific moment where Charly is looking at her daughter, and you can see the conflict in her eyes—the maternal instinct of Samantha fighting against the professional detachment of a killer. It’s high-level acting in a movie where a bridge gets blown up by a chemical bomb.
The Shane Black Signature
If you’ve seen Lethal Weapon or The Last Boy Scout, you know the Shane Black vibe.
- Holiday settings (always Christmas).
- Precocious kids who are actually helpful.
- Villains who are refined but totally psychotic.
- Dialogue that feels like a rhythmic drum solo.
Take the line: "Life is pain. Get used to it." Or Mitch’s iconic rant about his "cheap" suit. Black writes characters who talk like they know they’re in a movie but are too busy dying to care. This film represents the peak of his "buddy cop" formula, even though it isn't strictly about cops. It’s about a PI and an assassin.
The Politics of a 1996 Action Flick
Rewatching The Long Kiss Goodnight today is a trip because the plot involves a "false flag" operation. The villains are members of the intelligence community who want to detonate a bomb in Niagara Falls and blame it on Middle Eastern terrorists to ensure their budget doesn't get cut after the Cold War. In 1996, this felt like standard conspiracy thriller fare. Post-9/11, it feels eerily cynical and ahead of its time.
The movie’s primary antagonist, Timothy, played with a creepy, understated menace by Craig Bierko, isn't a cartoon. He’s a bureaucrat with a sniper rifle. He represents the "Deep State" fears that would dominate political discourse decades later. Brian Cox also shows up as Dr. Nathan Waldman, providing the necessary exposition with that gravelly voice that makes even the most convoluted plot points sound like Shakespeare.
Why It Failed (and Why It Survived)
It cost $65 million. It made about $33 million domestically. By Hollywood math, it was a flop.
New Line Cinema struggled to market it. Was it a feminist power flick? A Christmas comedy? A hardcore spy thriller? They didn't know. Also, audiences in 1996 weren't quite ready to see the mom from The Accidental Tourist blowing people's heads off.
But the "afterlife" of this movie on DVD and cable was massive. It became a cult classic because it’s endlessly rewatchable. The pacing is relentless. Once the third act hits and the action moves to the snowy border of Canada, Harlin cranks the tension to eleven. The practical effects hold up remarkably well. Compared to the CGI-heavy sludge of modern superhero movies, the pyrotechnics in the Niagara Falls finale feel heavy, dangerous, and real.
Mitch Henessey is arguably Samuel L. Jackson's best "human" role. He gets beat up. He’s scared. He sings a song about being a "bad motherf***er" to psyche himself up. It’s a performance grounded in a weird kind of reality that keeps the movie from floating off into pure absurdity.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs
If you’re planning a rewatch or seeing it for the first time, keep these things in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Look for the "Chef" Motif: Notice how Samantha’s skills as a homemaker—cutting carrots, tasting soup—directly translate into Charly’s skills as an assassin. It’s a clever bit of character consistency that most writers would miss.
- The Christmas Subtext: Like Die Hard, the holiday setting isn't just for decoration. It’s about the contrast between the "family peace" Samantha wants and the "violent chaos" Charly brings.
- Track the Mitch/Charly Power Dynamic: Pay attention to how the "hero" roles swap. In the beginning, Mitch is the "expert" (or thinks he is). By the end, he’s basically the damsel in distress who has to find his own courage.
- Contextualize the Stunts: Remember that this was 1996. When you see a car flipping or a building exploding, it’s mostly practical. The "bridge sequence" at the end involved massive physical sets and real fire.
The movie isn't perfect. Some of the blue-screen work during the final explosion is a bit dated, and the plot requires you to accept that a woman can survive a fall into sub-zero water and then run a marathon. But in the world of 90s cinema, The Long Kiss Goodnight is a heavyweight. It’s a film that respects the audience's intelligence while satisfying their lizard-brain desire for things to go "boom."
If you haven't seen it lately, go find it. It’s better than you remember.
Next Steps for the Fan:
- Compare the screenplay to the final cut; Shane Black's original "Leone-esque" ending was much darker.
- Watch The Nice Guys immediately after to see how Black evolved his "mismatched pair" trope.
- Research the "Cutthroat Island" fallout to understand the immense pressure Renny Harlin was under during this shoot.