The Long Kiss Goodnight (3½ Stars)

Samantha Caine is a happily married schoolteacher living in Buffalo, NY. But she has a problem. She's suffering from amnesia and can't remember anything that happened more than eight years ago. A private detective called Mitch Hennessey accidentally discovers a clue and offers to help her. At the same time a patient locked in a psychiatric ward recognizes her on television, prompting him to escape and try to kill her. As she slowly recovers her memory she realises that she used to be an assassin working for the CIA, but instead of welcoming her back her former employers try to kill her. The film then becomes a mixture of "The Bourne Identity" and "La Femme Nikita".

In theory the film could be excellent, but it fails to deliver. There are several problems. The biggest problem is the miscasting of the main character. It's impossible to take Geena Davis seriously as a trained killer. I don't care how many awards she's won, she's not a great actress, and this is a role she couldn't pull off. The second problem is the poor screenwriting. For example, the detective, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is introduced as a seedy criminal character, but as the film continues we only see his professional side, and he seems to be a good guy. The third problem is the poor stuntwork. An action film with lots of guns and explosions needs to look realistic to deliver. But it doesn't. For instance, when Mitch is thrown out of a window by an explosion his trajectory just looks wrong.

I've read that a sequel is being planned. Let's hope it's better.