Throwback Thursday is a weekly article in which we look back at our favorite TV episodes from the past. However, to celebrate the holidays, we will spotlighting a Christmas movie instead of our usual TV shows throughout December.
The dynamic between Geena Davis and Jackson is the film at its best – both actors were made for roles like these, and Geena Davis gets to play a gender-flipped role of the traditional action hero protagonist with style and substance to back it up, and the sheer glee that Davis has at kicking ass and taking names is felt everywhere – it’s a role that Davis enjoys and that vibrates across the rest of the cast, Jackson is having more fun than he’s ever had before and the back and forth between the two characters sings. Their road-trips and unique mannerisms are a delight, for example, Mitch sings along everytime he tries to remember something important, creating a jingle (like putting his keys in his pocket), but when Samantha is still putting the pieces together about her own memory, it’s a series of questions that she doesn’t know the answer to. She constantly meets up with people from her past who she thinks are one person but actually pretending, just like her – and the game of cat and mouse heightens the tension with some James Bond-influenced interrogation scenes that never loose the sense of fun factor that Black brings to the table.
The right amount of chemistry between a lead pair can make any movie no matter its quality watchable and the chemistry between Davis and Jackson is good enough that it will want to make you want to go to war for them – it’s enough to overlook some of the more problematic parts of the script that unfortunately, have not aged well. Mercifully, they are few and far between – once the film gets going, it truly takes off. In retrospect, it's hard to see why this film never became a hit at the box-office, it's a crowd-pleaser of the highest order - and may have found a new life, but still does not quite recieve the same amount of attention as the classics of the genre. Its performance was less than desireable - $33 million in the US and Canada against a $65 million budget (remember when films were made on a $65m budget?) isn't exactly good for its time.
Harlin’s direction almost traps the script and prevents it from being as fully iconic as it should be in what’s easily his best film, but it’s still a blast – the whole film would have been interesting to watch under the hands of a better director though, for example somebody like Tony Scott would have turned this into a masterpiece. The chaotic energy and sense of fun is the main real driving force behind this script – don’t go in expecting an Oscar-winner, but if you want a silly but entertaining romp from start to finish look no further: The Long Kiss Goodnight is a delight. If you have easy well-written one liners that are clever and smart but feel effortless, Jackson will make them feel effortless. There’s also David Morse and Brian Cox, both in a great supporting role – and Black crafts some spectacularly explosive action sequences that even Harlin can’t mess up – the finale in particular set against the snowy backdrop is iconic, and whilst the overall Christmas themes are played fast and loose – it’s not a true Christmas movie – but pedanticism be damned, the gunplay and shootouts in the snow are spectacular. In a A-Grade action sequence – one of many - the pair run through a building that’s about to explode and escape by shooting ice to make a hole in the water for them to plunge into. It’s completely insane – completely over the top, and completely likeable.
The Long Kiss Goodnight is streaming in the UK on NOWTV's Cinema Membership, and on Hoopla in the USA. It can be purchased in a physical copy format or on your preferred streaming on demand service.
