Imagine waking up one day with no clue about who you are. You only know what people tell you—your name, your family, and a job you don’t even remember doing. You hire dozens of detectives to piece it all together, but it leads nowhere. That’s precisely what happens to Samantha Caine, the main character in Renny Harlin’s thriller, “Long Kiss Goodnight” (1996). Geena Davis takes the lead as Samantha Caine, while Samuel L. Jackson plays the foul-mouth detective Mitch Henessey. The cast also includes Yvonne Zima as Caitlin, Craig Bierko as Timothy, Tom Amandes as Hal, Brian Cox as Waldman, and more.
Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Who are Samantha Caine & Mitch?
Samantha Caines, a middle-aged woman, kicks off the story with a reflective monologue. She’s lost about 70 percent of her memory—can’t recall vast chunks of her life. This includes the scars on her back, which she stares at in the mirror, puzzled, and even the birth of her daughter, Kaitlyn. Her doctor says it’s Retrograde Amnesia, which explains why so many details are just…gone. Back then, Samantha used to hire detectives to piece together her past, offering them money to dig up the truth, but when the funds ran dry, she had to settle for lower-tier investigators. Despite all of that, Samantha’s life has turned out great. She’s a teacher, totally treasured by her students, in a good relationship with a wonderful guy, and raising an adorable little girl. To put it simply, life’s good for her now.
Samantha currently has hired Mitch, a shady, low-level detective who roams with a crew of washed-up actors running small-time cons around town. In the opening scene, we catch Mitch pretending to be a cop, shaking down a guy he caught with a call girl, squeezing him for cash. Before becoming a private eye, Mitch was an Atlanta cop until he got caught for pocketing bonds that should’ve gone straight into evidence. Mitch stumbles upon some information on Samantha’s past, thinking he can milk it for a little extra “service fee,” as he likes to call it.
Why did Samatha leave home?
Samantha’s peaceful life takes a sharp turn when she’s involved in a severe car accident, ending up in the hospital. After getting home, she discovers something strange: Samantha is suddenly a genius with knives, a skill she had never had before. It seems like the concussion unlocked some hidden abilities, but her memory’s still a blank slate.
Things get even more intense when a convict named One-Eyed Jack sees her face on TV. He escapes from prison, clearly recognizing her, and shows up at her place, calling her ‘Charley,’ but before he can harm her or the family, Samantha takes him down, breaking his neck like it’s second nature. Realizing that staying at the house is dangerous and could bring more trouble, Samantha decides to go on a little road trip with Mitch to dig into her past and figure out what she did that made her so deadly with knives and fists.
Who is Charley Baltimore?
A still from “Long Kiss Goodnight” (1996)
Later that night, Samantha visits her old apartment and finds a disassembled sniper rifle. Without thinking, she puts it together in seconds, like she’s done it a thousand times before. They also find a journal with the name and address of a man named Nathan Waldman. When they give him a call, Waldman tells Samantha to meet him at a train station. But several people with guns have been tailing them from the start, and they’re instructed to kill her. They try to take out Samantha and Mitch, but Samantha saves the day once again. She handles the situation like a pro, leaving Mitch with no doubt that her past wasn’t peaceful or quiet. Guns, grenades, and jumping out of buildings were things she was used to doing on a daily basis.
So the question is: Who is Samantha Caine?
Waldman clarifies that Samantha’s real name is Charley Baltimore, a top-tier assassin working for the U.S. government. “Samantha Caine” was just a cover, an alias Charley was to use in case things went south. Charley loses her memory during a mission and only remembers her fake life as Samantha. Samantha and Mitch decide to ditch Waldman and head off to see Luke, the man she thought she was going to marry, based on a postcard they found. But it is revealed that Luke’s been working for the agency all along, setting them up. Samantha and Mitch get kidnapped, but Charley’s instincts and past memories kick in, and she grabs a gun, kills Luke, and saves Mitch. Unfortunately, Waldman isn’t as lucky and doesn’t make it. By now, Charley’s memory has fully recovered, and she proves it by dyeing her hair blonde. She is no longer Samantha Caine but Charley Baltimore.
What is Mission “Honeymoon”?
Charley plans to reach out to her old boss, Perkins, and return to her old job as if nothing happened. But Perkins doesn’t think the same, as he has got new clients now, and they’re some of Charley’s old enemies. So, instead of welcoming her back, he orders Timothy to take her and Mitch out, using any means necessary. Charley knows she has to go back into hiding with no other options. But first, she needs to get her bracelet, which is the key to a locker holding her stash of cash, fake passports, and ticket out of the country. Timothy, however, crosses the line and kidnaps Kaitlyn, threatening to kill her if Charley doesn’t turn herself in.
Charley tracks Timothy’s call to Niagara Falls, and by this, she inadvertently triggers her memory of “Honeymoon,” a mission she stopped eight years ago. The plan is that Perkins and Timothy are set to detonate a bomb at the falls and pin it on an Islamist rights group. This setup would push the White House to funnel more funding their way, something Perkins has been after for ages. Back in the day, Perkins would’ve taken out criminals like Timothy and Luke, but budget cuts forced him to team up with them instead. Charley manages to escape with Kaitlyn, but things go sideways when Mitch is wounded in the process.
Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) Movie Ending Explained:
What happens to Mitch and Charley at the end?
Charley hijacks the truck before it reaches its target. Timothy tries to stop her, but Charley keeps her word and kills him. She’s wounded, but Mitch, still alive, shows up just in time, and together, they escape across the border into Canada. The bomb goes off, taking out Timothy and his men. As the dust settles, life returns to normal. Charley decides to leave the world of assassins behind and settle into her life as Samantha Caine again. She even gets a call from the President, who thanks her for saving the country and asking if she’d consider returning to the CIA. Charley politely declines and says she’s happy being a teacher. Meanwhile, Mitch becomes a national hero for exposing Perkins’ nefarious entourage.