The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
By:
Sierra Hancock
The Long Kiss Goodnight is a 1996 action thriller film starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson, written by Shane Black and directed by Renny Harlin. Plot Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) is a mother and schoolteacher with a seemingly normal life in the small town of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. However, she was found badly injured and suffering from amnesia eight years previously, and has no memory of her past. When she is attacked by an escaped convict, Samantha dispatches her attacker with lethal self-defense skills she was not aware she possessed. Throughout the years she hires a series of detectives to help her find the truth about her past until ending up with wisecracking, ethically challenged private investigator Mitch Henessey (Samuel L. Jackson) who lucks into some vital information. She contacts the mysterious Dr. Nathan Waldman (Brian Cox) who reveals that Samantha is really Charlene Elizabeth "Charly" Baltimore, an assassin for the CIA who went missing eight years ago. When Samantha is captured and tortured by her old enemy Daedalus (David Morse), her real identity resurfaces. Although she initially disdains her life as 'Samantha', Mitch forces Charly to recognize that she actually liked her time as Samantha as it was the first time she was truly content with herself. While attempting to resolve her conflicted feelings about her past, Charly discovers that her former boss at the CIA, Leland Perkins (Patrick Malahide), has allied with a psychological-operations specialist named Timothy (Craig Bierko) in a false flag plot to detonate a chemical bomb in downtown Niagara Falls, New York, frame "Islamic" terrorists for the crime, and thus secure more funding. She and Mitch set out to thwart the plot and rescue her young daughter, Caitlin (Yvonne Zima) from the clutches of the terrorists. Charly reveals to Timothy during a tense confrontation that he is actually Caitlin's father due to a brief fling during Charly's last assignment before being struck with amnesia. After averting the plot by stealing the tanker carrying the chemical bomb (Timothy dying in the process), Charly returns to her old life as Samantha and loving parent to Caitlin. For his part, Mitch enjoys the publicity attracted by his role in the crisis.
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