Long Kiss Goodnight
In “The Long Kiss Goodnight”, Geena Davis plays the role of a housewife who leads a normal life, until she finds out she is an ex-assassin employed by the CIA. She employs Samuel L. Jackson to find out more about who she really was. This film is different from the previous films that we have seen because the protagonist is woman, which steps away from the stereotype of all “buddy co” films where the main characters are men.
The movie is unfortunately laughable. The scene in the beginning where Geena Davis is driving, and gets in the accident is the beginning of the rest of the film, but it still; it begins the film off on the wrong foot. After being thrown out of the car and sustaining a head injury, she kills the deer that caused the accident. In the hospital, Davis has a mental image of her alter ego, who looks at her in the reflection in the mirror. Also, when she is in the kitchen, she goes into a frenzy with the knife, chopping every vegetable in the house. Davis’s character switches from Samantha Caine to Charlie Baltimore, going from one polar opposite to another. The transition creates faults in the movie that detracts from what could be a well-done film.
However, this film is unfortunately the worst one that I’ve seen so far. The buddy cop genre doesn’t seem to really apply to this film, since only Mitch Hennessey is the “officer” in this case. The unintended humor takes away the seriousness in the film, and Davis’s character, though dramatic, cannot really be taken seriously. Jackson’s character is the more poignant character in the film, even though he was type-casted as the loud, angry detective.
The movie is unfortunately laughable. The scene in the beginning where Geena Davis is driving, and gets in the accident is the beginning of the rest of the film, but it still; it begins the film off on the wrong foot. After being thrown out of the car and sustaining a head injury, she kills the deer that caused the accident. In the hospital, Davis has a mental image of her alter ego, who looks at her in the reflection in the mirror. Also, when she is in the kitchen, she goes into a frenzy with the knife, chopping every vegetable in the house. Davis’s character switches from Samantha Caine to Charlie Baltimore, going from one polar opposite to another. The transition creates faults in the movie that detracts from what could be a well-done film.
However, this film is unfortunately the worst one that I’ve seen so far. The buddy cop genre doesn’t seem to really apply to this film, since only Mitch Hennessey is the “officer” in this case. The unintended humor takes away the seriousness in the film, and Davis’s character, though dramatic, cannot really be taken seriously. Jackson’s character is the more poignant character in the film, even though he was type-casted as the loud, angry detective.
posted by Hayden Cadwalader at 1:15 PM
6 Comments:
I have to disagree and say this is a buddy cop film.
Charley and Mitch do many typical buddy cop things: they argue in the beginning of their relationship, they disagree about many things, they have a bonding moment when Mitch helps her realize her love for her daughter, and they end up working together in the end. Mitch even takes a bullet while trying to save Charley's daughter. Charley and Mitch form a partnership and they look out for each other.
I agree with Madeline, I think the film is still in the Buddy Cop genre. It follows most of the aspects we listed in class that are commonly in buddy cop films. On another note, I agree with Hayden, I think that Davis's mental alter ego makes her character laughable and can not be taken seriously, therefore the overall film suffers.
I disagree with the fact that it doesn't fit into the buddy cop genre. If you look at the requirements to fill this genre, this movie has plenty of it. A background between the two main characters, one rogue and another that doesn't do anything right, a bonding moment, plenty of action (including a car chase), and murder. It def. has some james bond moments like with the elaborate torture scene. I do agree it is the worst i've seen so far, but it was hilarious.
You mention it could be a good film.
How would you make it a better film? What do you change? What do you address in terms of its composition?
I agree that Geena Davis’s character Samantha Cain made the transition into Charley Baltimore too quickly. When she broke the deer’s neck and starting chopping vegetables it is just unrealistic and makes the audience step back and say wait what? I think the film actually had quite a few buddy cop film elements that we have talked about in class (I mentioned some in my post), but that certainly doesn’t make the movie any better. The unintended humor definitely took away from any seriousness the film was supposed to have.
I disagree with you when you say it isn't a buddy cop movie. I think it definitely has plenty of elements to be considered buddy cop. They don't get along at first, their relationship grows throughout the movie, and they end up willing to die for the other one. It s definitely not a buddy cop thriller in the sense that it is just completely unrealistic, it can't be taken seriously and i believe that may be why you don't think it's a buddy cop movie.
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