the long kiss goodnight ( r ) meryl streep tried it and failed .
even pamela anderson lee made an attempt but fell flat on her well - bared assets .
however , geena davis could very well become the first bankable american female action star
with the long kiss goodnight ,
a preposterous but incredibly fun action thriller directed by her husband , renny harlin .
davis plays samantha caine , a mousy suburban school teacher and mother whose memories only go back eight years .
with the help of ethically questionable private detective mitch hennessey ( samuel l . jackson ) , she slowly remembers -- and reclaims -- her past as charly baltimore , tough - as - nails cia operative .
needless to say , with the reappearance of samantha / charly comes the appearance of an assortment of no - goodniks out to erase more than her memory .
shane black netted a cool $ 4 mil for his script ; i 'm not so sure if his prose is truly deserving of such a hefty price tag , but for what it 's worth ,
it delivers the goods .
like black 's previous work , such as lethal weapon and the last boy scout ,
the script juggles some impressive action scenes with funny , quirky dialogue .
the humor especially works well in this case , for the story is so preposterous that the laughs help to keep things from taking things too seriously .
but there 's no argument that the more unbelievable sequences are original and entertaining as hell : who can resist the sight of davis tossing her daughter from a hole in her house into the nearby treehouse or chasing after a car .
. .
while ice skating ? jackson and davis make a good team
.
jackson is funny as ever as ever
; in fact , his spirited line deliveries , especially when he first appears , are more than reminiscent of his work as jules in pulp fiction .
as good as he is , the one who should benefit the most from this project is davis , who shows much promise as an action heroine .
what makes her so effective and why she should succeed where streep and lee failed is that she does n't take herself too seriously .
she is obviously in on the joke , slyly taking jabs at herself and at the situation .
this is not to say that she does n't need work -- sometimes she lays on the " toughness " a bit too thick and comes off too much as a caricature .
but should the public embrace the film and , in turn , the notion of a kick - ass female , davis could have found her special niche .
it seems as if davis and harlin 's first collaboration , the middling pirate epic cutthroat island , was just a dress rehearsal ( albeit a very costly one ) for long kiss , in which the wife - husband team hit their action stride .
anyone simply looking for a fun , escapist entertainment that requires little - to - no thinking will find this film to be a more - than - welcome kiss .
original and entertaining especially works well it delivers the goods more - than - welcome kiss a fun , escapist entertainment funny as ever as ever a preposterous but incredibly fun effective spirited line deliveries jackson and davis make a good team could very well become the first bankable american female action star juggles some impressive action scenes with funny , quirky dialogue shows much promise