While recently spending a weekend with my father I saw a movie, ‘The Long Kiss Goodnight’ that he dubbed one of the greatest movies of all time. Automatically I was skeptical but we sat down to watch it anyway. Because I was sure this would be the next topic of my critique I pulled out my notepad and went to take some notes on this supposedly great movie.
Before I go any further, The Long Kiss Goodnight stars Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. Now if that doesn’t get your attention and also tell you what kind of movie it’s going to be then get your head on straight and pay attention.
Yeesh.
So Long Kiss Goodnight is the story about a secret agent (Geena Davis) who almost dies eight years prior and losses her memory, thus becoming Samantha Caine. For a while she hires detectives to help her find out who she was but is never able to find anything. One of the cheep ones (Jackson), who makes his introduction blackmailing a guy for hiring a prostitute that he set up and has a habit of singing about what he does, finds some old belongings of hers and they begin to follow the trail to her past, uncovering a terrible fund raising scheme that would kill thousands of people and Samantha’s old personality Charlie.
Now that I’ve vary vaguely ruined most of the plot for you I want you to keep reading, I’ve told you before, this only gets better. So while I was watching the movie I had my note pad out and I’m usually vary good about taking down points that I think are important. When I looked down at the end of the movie all I had where three points about the beginning and then it just sort of drifted off into reactions. ‘lol’ ‘wow’ ‘holy shit’ all graced my page (in that order). The level in which the movie had drawn me in was extremely surprising.
The Long Kiss Goodnight is by no means a terribly deep movie, it deals with basic themes and some overdone character flaws, but it does it so well and in such a shiny and explosive way that you don’t even think about it. It reminds me a lot of Indiana Jones in the way that the real nuggets of hilarity are not the witty banter (of which there’s quite a lot and vary well done might I add) but instead at the little looks, facial expressions and silent actions. The best example of this is when Samantha/Charlie and the detective are on the run and their in a car. Charlie thinks that she doesn’t really have any use for the other around and literally pushes him out of the car while their headed up a New Jersey street.
His response to this is to lay where he’s rolled, still on the side of the street, and pull out a cigarette. Him sitting there calmly was far funnier then when she picked him back up about fifty seconds later and his response of “Found a use for me huh?”
This movie is not without its small plot holes and oddities. Like for instance there’s a point where Sam and her roughly eight year old daughter are caught in a basement full of gasoline drums. Somehow, before they are surrounded by the bad guys that had been chasing them and being faced with the threat to be blown sky high, she uses her daughters doll’s ability to realistically pee to get some of the gas into the doll which she later uses to blow the door (and most of the building) off of a meat locker.
But they’re so small and you’re so wrapped up in the rest of the visual play that it doesn’t really matter.
So for all of you who like awesome hilarity and lots of explosions with some of the best acting and directing this silly genre has ever seen I suggest you go find yourself a copy, I know I have.
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