The Long Kiss Goodnight - film review

I missed The Long Kiss Goodnight when it first came out back in 1996, and only now have I caught up with it. I'm glad I did, because this is an action thriller with a difference. The Christmassy background is appealing, but what really makes the movie work is a winning combination of action and wit,with excellent performances from several very bankable actors.

Sam Caine (Geena Davis) is a schoolteacher living in Pennsylvania who is trying to solve a mystery of her own. She suffers from a severe case of amnesia (and trivia buffs will no doubt spot that her very name is a relevant anagram) and has no memory of her life prior to eight years ago. She was pregnant at the time she lost her memory, and has a young daughter, but no idea of the father's identity. She is now in love with a decent man, but has spent a lot of money on trying to find out who she is. Now she is scraping the barrel by engaging the services of Mitch, a dodgy gumshoe played by Samuel L. Jackson.

After Sam is involved in a car accident, suffering concussion, her memory starts to come back. It soon emerges that she has skills with a knife. and when she is attacked by an escaped convict who bears her a grudge, she dispatches him with deadly efficiency. Soon it becomes clear that her past life was very different, and very dangerous. With Mitch's help, she makes contact with a former colleague, played by Brian Cox, but then her past catches up with her in dramatic fashion. The excellent cast also includes Patrick Malahide, one of my favourite screen bad guys (even though he did play good old Inspector Alleyn as well).

All in all, the film stands up very well despite the passage of time since it was first screened. Part of the credit for this goes to the actors, and in particular Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. But much of the success of the film is, I think, due to the quality of the writing. There's plenty of humour in the screenplay, and a couple of twists near the end are neatly foreshadowed in earlier scenes - a sign of careful writing. Shane Black, the writer, is well-known for his action thrillers, and this accomplished story is highly entertaining.

Hunted - TV review

Hunted came to an end this week after its eight-week run. I stayed with it until the final unlikely twist, and not only because Melissa George made such a good job of the almost impossible role of gorgeous super-woman Sam Hunter. The best acting, though, came from the admirable Patrick Malahide, who made a superb elderly hard man, bent on revenge for reasons that only became clear late on.

Hunted was devised and written by Frank Spotnitz, the man behind The X Files, and this show had some of the merit of its illustrious predecessor, though there were many differences. Sam Hunter was working for a secretive (and very sinister) security company, and there were various multi-national shenanigans involving a billion pound tender for a dam project, an environmental calamity, and all manner of villains, most of whom had it in for poor old Sam.

I'm not usually very keen on stories lasting as long as eight hours. You need an exceptionally strong plot to keep the viewer interested, and although many good judges tell me that the first series of The Killing was a wonderful success, despite its length, I was slightly disappointed with the follow-up, which lasted for ten rather long hours and felt as if the script needed radical pruning. Hunted was better, because the twists and turns kept coming, and there were a couple of rather excellent twists in the final episode.

I did, however, feel that the last few minutes were rather over the top. A plot device that had been used three times already was repeated yet again, and I also became rather confused by the sheer number of conspiracies that were taking place. Hunted was by no means a masterpiece, but all in all, it was pretty well crafted, and I'm glad I stuck with it.

Hunted - TV review

Hunted, a new BBC TV drama, the first episode of which I've just watched, is described in some quarters as being in the same vein as the long-running series Spooks. But I never saw Spooks - combining writing with working full time as a lawyer meant something must give, and for me that has usually been television series. But life is changing for me, and I thought I'd watch the start of this new series, on the basis that I might just manage to keep tuned if it proved entertaining.

I'm glad I did, because I enjoyed the first episode a good deal. It's pacy, action-packed stuff, and if you like James Bond, you'll probably like Hunted. The story began in Tangier, and within a very short time, an exceptionally attractive woman had killed an assortment of bad guys and apparently (but not actually) killed by a rooftop sniper. You don't mess with Sam Hunter, that is for sure. The part is played by Melissa George, and she turns out to work for a private security firm that involves itself in a variety of murky dealings.

Sam's whereabouts are betrayed to yet more bad guys, and she is again apparently killed, but - guess what! - she survives miraculously. Not so fortunate is her unborn child - the father is one of her colleagues, whom she suspects of being the traitor. A year or so later, and physically recovered, but scarred both in body and mind, she returns to her job, and becomes involved in a a case involving a wealthy gangster (played as creepily as ever by the splendid Patrick Malahide - how on earth was this born villain ever cast as that toff of a cop, Roderick Alleyn?).

Sam cunningly infiltrates the gangster's household, posing as a young American (apart from her lovely looks, amazing combat skills, and mastery of languages, she is also brilliant at acting and probably everything else you could imagine) but her secret is uncovered - again, the question arises: which of her colleagues is a double agent? - and the episode ended with her coming face to face with a sinister assassin. Did I mention, by the way, that Sam experienced a terrible trauma in her childhood? Yep, all the ingredients have been thrown into the mix. Hokum, perhaps, but very well done, and I shall make a point of tuning in next week. Thank goodness for part-time working....