THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT

"THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT"
(1996) (Geena Davis, Samuel Jackson) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Heavy	Heavy	Heavy	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	Minor	Moderate	None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Heavy	Mild	Mild	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: A woman discovers that the past eight years of her life have just been a cover for her real identity as a government trained assassin.

PLOT:: Samantha Caine (GEENA DAVIS) is a small town school teacher with a husband and daughter, Caitlin (YVONNE ZIMA), who suddenly finds her life turned upside down after a car wreck brings back memories of who she really is. When an escaped convict tries to kill her, she heads off with Mitch Henessey (SAMUEL JACKSON), a small time detective, and soon finds that her real name is Charly Baltimore. Furthermore, she learns from her mentor, Nathan (BRIAN COX) that she was a government trained assassin. Her former intelligence boss, Perkins (PATRICK MALAHIDE), and former targets and lovers Timothy (CRAIG BIERKO) and Luke (DAVID MORSE), however are none too happy to see her and would prefer her dead. As they attempt to accomplish that, Charly, and Mitch who can't believe the world he's stumbled into, uncover a government backed terrorist plot that they must try to stop.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they like slam bang action films or are fans of Davis or Jackson they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For a substantial amount of strong bloody violence, and for strong language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: Neither GEENA DAVIS nor SAMUEL JACKSON is a good role model in this film.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 7 out of 10: If you take an Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis action film and substitute a female star, you'd get this movie. Geena Davis fits the bill of the action hero and can proudly stand next to her male counterparts in this slam bang action flick. By the end she's killed all of the bad guys and looks like heck after she's been beaten, stabbed, nearly drowned, frozen, blown up and generally rung through the ringer. If you like the "Die Hard" type movies with extravagant stunts and tons of action, and if you can forgive and accept the convoluted plot (that makes no sense until the very end) you'll probably enjoy this film. As said before, Davis is perfect as the bewildered housewife/school teacher who suddenly finds her old, original killer self coming back. And Jackson, as usual, is a delight as the comic relief to Davis' hero antics. Those looking for a coherent plot or who can't stand films that are inconsistent, had better look elsewhere. For adults who like this genre, you won't miss with this one. We give it a 7 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: This definitely isn't a film for most children. There are killings galore that happen in all sorts of ways and there's a heavy amount of blood that flows along with it. Profanity is extreme, but sexual content is moderate with more talk than action. Davis is an assassin and thus won't prove to be much of a good role model to young girls who may look up to her. And Samantha/Charly's daughter is kidnaped by the bad guys as bait to bring her in. As always, read through the scene listings before you consider allowing any of your kids to see this one.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: People drink wine and cocktails at a Christmas party.
Both Mitch and Charly drink (cocktails, beer) several times during the movie.
Charly's mentor, Nathan, drinks from a flask.

BLOOD/ GORE: After hitting a deer and then wrecking the car into a tree, both Samantha and her passenger are rather bloody as is the deer.
Samantha has a dream where she sees another version of herself who has a bloody gash on her head. Later, she has another dream where another version of herself reaches out through the mirror and slices open her throat.
Many people who've been shot are bloody, and/or have blood squirting out from their wounds.
Mitch's neck is somewhat bloody after an encounter with the bad guys.
A man's face is bloody after Charly has stabbed him in the eye with a knife.
Both Mitch and Charly are very bloody and banged up by the end of the movie.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Of course all of the bad guys have bad attitudes and Timothy even refers to Caitlin as a "little bitch" right before putting her into a walk in freezer to kill her and Charly.
Mitch gives a young boy a gift and the boy refuses it saying that when Mitch got him a bike, his mother called all of the bike stores to see if any had reported a theft. Mitch then says that he doesn't steal them locally (laughing).
Mitch tells Samantha that he served four years in prison for stealing bonds from his vice cop partner. Later he mentions that he's never done anything right in his life and "that had to take skill."
It turns out the CIA is behind all of this action and it's said that recent terrorist activities (including the World Trade Center bombing) were done as "fund raisers" for the CIA in this time of budget cutbacks. For an upcoming "terrorist" bombing, they say they'll blame it on the Muslims.

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: Many scenes listed under "Violence" are also rather tense and/or suspenseful.
Samantha has two dreams/daydreams where she's talking to another version of herself. In one, her other self is bloody from the car crash and is smoking a cigarette during a weird thunderstorm. In the other, she sees her other self in a mirror and that one reaches out with a knife through the mirror and slices open Samantha's throat.
Samantha finds herself tied to a large water wheel and is submerged into the icy cold water often to try to make her talk. Each time she has to hold her breath, and during one of the dunkings she sees Nathan under water and dead.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Machine guns/Grenades/Knives: Used to threaten, injure or kill many people. See "Violence" for details.
Knife: Samantha is suddenly extremely proficient with a kitchen knife and ends her "show" by throwing a large knife across the room and into a door.
Sniper Rifle: She finds this in the bottom of her suitcase and without knowing how, quickly assembles it. Later, it's used quite often in many of the shooting scenes.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Samantha suddenly becomes proficient with kitchen knives. She balances a large butcher knife on her finger (point down) and then throws it across the room and into a door.
When Mitch mentions that she doesn't need him anymore, Charly opens the door and kicks him out of their moving truck and he lands and rolls on the street (but she does come back and pick him up).
Phrases: "Jerk off," "Chick," "Piss off," "Bitch," "Shut up," "Bastards," "Balls," "Nimrod," and "Screwed up."

JUMP SCENES: In a daydream, Samantha suddenly sees her mirrored image holding a large knife and then that image reaches out and slices open her throat.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There's a moderate amount of action oriented suspense music in this film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 51 "f" words (5 with the prefix "mother," and 5 used sexually), 19 "s" words, 13 "ass" words, 8 hells, 5 slang terms for male genitals (the "d" and "p" words), 2 slang terms for female genitals (the "p" word) and 3 slang terms for breasts ("tits"), 4 damns, 1 crap and 8 uses of "God damn," 3 uses each of "God," "For Christ's sake," and "Jesus," 2 uses of "For God's sake," and 1 use each of "Swear to God," "Jesus Christ," "Good Lord," and "My God," all as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Samantha stands nude looking at herself in a mirror, but her arms cover her breasts so nothing is seen.
Mitch bursts into a room (posing as a vice cop) and finds a prostitute on top of a man and they're having sex. She quickly hops off and no nudity is seen.
An older man getting a ride home asks Samantha how often she and her husband have sex (he implies this by running his fingers off one hand back and forth out of his other hand). She replies, "How often do we pull our fingers out of our hands?"
Mitch almost runs off the road looking a passing female jogger and then talks to Samantha about looking at women's bodies.
Mitch jokingly says "That's enough, I'm getting a boner" after Samantha tells him intimate details about Luke.
Samantha's bra and panties can be seen through a wet nightgown when she's tied to a large water wheel.
Charly takes a shower and is nude, but her arms cover her breasts and only the side of her butt can be seen.
Charly opens her robe and flashes Mitch right before she yanks a bandage off his side (he sees her nude, but we don't). She says that what she did was the same principle as described in a novel where a man bites a young lady on the ear to distract her from the pain of being "deflowered." Mitch says he just distracts them (women) and then says "pop goes the weasel."
Mitch says "The last time I got blown (oral sex), candy bars cost a nickel."
Charly starts coming on to Mitch but he stops her, reminding her that she's married in "her other life."
Charly says that she and Timothy "bumped pelvises together" (had sex) in the past.

SMOKING: A young teenager tries to pull a cigarette out of someone's back pocket at a Christmas party.
Mitch's assistant smokes in several scenes.
Mitch and Charly often smoke throughout the movie.
A prisoner smokes a cigarette.
Samantha has a dream where she's talking to another version of herself who's smoking.
Charly returns to her home and finds a young teenager smoking. She grabs the cigarette from him saying it's bad for his health. She then takes a puff and says "If I catch you smoking again, I'll blow your f*cking head off" (said for laughs).

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Samantha/Charly must deal with leaving her family to "find herself."
Timothy kidnaps Caitlin and Charly must rescue her.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Having a life that you didn't know you had.
Kidnaping.

VIOLENCE: Samantha is giving an older man a ride home from a Christmas party when they strike a deer on the dark snowy road. It crashes through the windshield and the car then crashes into a tree and Samantha is thrown out of the car. The older man inside is bloody. The car then catches on fire and burns. Samantha begins to have flashes of her earlier life and seeing that the deer isn't quite dead, she goes to it and breaks its neck.
A man hanging from ropes around his wrists is stabbed and killed with a knife.
Christmas carolers are forced to sing in front of Samantha's house at gunpoint. When Samantha comes to the door, an escaped convict runs forward and into her house. They struggle with his shotgun which fires and blows apart the banister. Her husband rushes in but is hit several times by the convict. He then shoots a grenade at Samantha that blows a hole through the wall. Samantha then tosses her daughter through the hole to safety and runs into the kitchen where he blows a hole through the fridge door. They then struggle and he smashes a pot over her head. When his gun jams, he pulls out a knife and goes after her but she smashes a pie into his face and then grabs him by the head and breaks his neck.
Samantha has a daydream where another version of herself reaches out through the mirror and slices open her throat with a large hunting knife. Mitch rushes in (hearing her scream) and she, still in her daydream, grabs a sniper rifle and fires at him, but misses.
In a train station where they're waiting to meet a man, another man approaches with a gun. Samantha grabs the gun in Mitch's pocket and shoots the other man dead. The two then try to escape, but other bad guys come pouring in, firing their machine guns at Mitch and Samantha. They miss them, but hit and kill many bystanders. The two then race up the stairs only to have a hand grenade tossed at them. They run down a hallway as the grenade explodes and they are blown out of a window. As they fall, Samantha fires a machine gun down into the ice covered lake and they crash through the broken ice. Later in the parking lot, another man tries to shoot them but is run over by Nathan who picks up Mitch and Samantha and speeds off.
Mitch believes that Nathan was in on that last attack and comes after him with a crowbar. Nathan then kicks Mitch in the crotch but Samantha wraps a coat around his head and they steal his car.
Mitch and Samantha go to see Luke, whom she believes was her former fianc�. Nathan catches up with them and tells Mitch that he was a former target, not her lover. As they try to warn her, a bunch of bad guys show up and Luke punches and knocks out Samantha.
When she wakes up, Samantha finds herself tied to a large water wheel. Luke then submerges her in the icy cold water several times trying to get her to talk. Under water, she is horrified to see Nathan also under the water and very dead. As he puts her under another time, she grabs a gun hidden on Nathan and upon resurfacing, shoots Luke in the leg, the chest and then finally kills him.
In a flashback scene, Jack, the escaped convict, is going to either rape or kill Samantha. But she grabs his knife and jams it into his eye. She then tries to run away (alongside a cliff), but is shot and falls over the edge.
Charly is grabbed by a man at gunpoint and taken into an alley. Mitch shows up and holds his gun on this man. Charly then grabs the gun and shoots this man dead as well as the many others who show up.
When Mitch mentions that she doesn't need him anymore, Charly opens the door and kicks him out of their moving truck and he lands and rolls on the street.
Charly returns to her home and finds a young teenager smoking. She grabs the cigarette from him saying it's bad for his health. She then takes a puff and says "If I catch you smoking again, I'll blow your f*cking head off" (said for laughs).
Some bad guys drive after Mitch and fire machine guns at him. Charly races after them and shoots the three men dead inside the car.
Timothy kidnaps Caitlin from a church and threatens another mother's children with a knife if she yells for help.
Charly and Mitch burst into the local phone company with guns drawn and make the workers patch a phone call for them.
As Charly and Mitch go to rescue Caitlin, she stabs a guard in the throat and then shoots another man through the peephole in a door.
Timothy and others capture the threesome and punch Mitch. They then plan to freeze Charly and Caitlin to death. Timothy throws a knife that lands in between Mitch's legs. Charly causes an explosion that frees her and blows Mitch out the window just as Timothy was ready to shoot him dead. As a guard rushes up, Mitch throws the knife into his neck, killing him.
In the next to last big action scene, Charly and Mitch start taking out the bad guys. She breaks one's neck and many others are shot. Mitch gets shot in the foot and then later in his side.
Charly gets control of a bomb rigged tanker truck and throws the driver out onto the road and later the truck crashes.
Charly and Timothy have a big final fight scene with many punches and kicks thrown. He slices her side with a knife and then the two dangle from a bridge while wrestling for a gun. He eventually falls into the river.
Gunmen in a helicopter shoot at her, and she fires back and the copter catches on fire. A man on fire falls and gets caught in cables and hangs there burning. Timothy returns and fires at her, but in a wild stunt, she gets a gun and shoots him dead.
The tanker truck explodes in a tremendous fireball and destroys the bridge and kills everyone on it.

Reviewed October 5, 1996

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