Noir November: The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Director Renny Harlin had quite a run of movies in which he could do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned. I include Cutthroat Island in that selection (a decent action flick undeserving of its legacy as "the film that sank Carolco" - well, Showgirls also had a part to play there). Shane Black is a writer who has consistently entertained me over the years (from the greatness of Lethal Weapon up the not-as-great-but-still-good-ness of Iron Man 3). And Geena Davis? Well, I've been a big fan of her ever since I fell in love with her in Tootsie, small role though it was. I'm telling you all of this as a way to explain part of the reason why I love The Long Kiss Goodnight so much, which is directed by Harlin, written by Black, and stars Davis.

Davis is Samantha Caine, a housewife who only has memory of her last eight years on this planet. Anything before that is a blank. She has a private detective (Mitch, played by Samuel L. Jackson) on the case, but has resigned herself to the fact that she may never know about any of her old life. Unfortunately for her, it soon becomes clear that her old life is looking to majorly bite her on the ass. Events start to occur that jolt Samantha back to her old self, a woman who used to work as a skilled assassin for the government. As you might suspect, she made some enemies with her past career choice, and some of them are keen to get their revenge.

Davis is a convincing action heroine, and has a lot of fun transitioning from the sweet and innocent Samantha Caine to the foul-mouthed, deadly Charly Baltimore of her past. Jackson does great work as her co-star, with the two sparking off each other nicely in between, and even during, the action moments. The two might not quite make it to the level of previous action movie team-ups, but they're great nonetheless. Craig Bierko is an entertaining villain, irredeemably nasty and always slightly over the top, while Brian Cox and David Morse both play characters who could be good or bad, making Samantha's encounters with them all the more interesting. Yvonne Zima does fine as the young daughter, who may end up in a bit of trouble thanks to her mother, and Tom Amandes is the supportive partner.

There's a decent soundtrack, an unsurprising use of snow and Christmas decorations throughout (it's a Shane Black thing), enjoyable and ridiculous action moments, and plenty of great one-liners (also a Shane Black thing, of course). I can't say that Davis has had a bad film career, but her capability in this always makes me regret that she didn't ever get a chance to truly shine in many other female badass characters. Harlin directs with his usual competence, but the film turns to gold thanks to the great dialogue and the convincing turn from Davis. I love it.

9/10

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Dirty Deeds (2005)

Typical teen comedy fare, Dirty Deeds may not be all that well known, but it's not a terrible time-waster. Thanks to a decent cast, a fun premise that has the potential for greatness, and one or two enjoyable set-pieces, this puts itself slightly ahead of the seemingly hundreds of American Pie sequels that went straight to DVD.

Milo Ventimiglia plays Zach Harper, the young man at the centre of all of the excitement in this comedic adventure. In an attempt to help out the brother of a girl he likes (Lacey Chabert, and who can blame him for liking her) he ends up putting himself forward to do the dirty deeds. These are ten tasks so fiendishly difficult that few people rarely make it past the first two or three. And they have to be completed between dusk and dawn of one night. It's a very tough challenge, but complete all ten and you become a legend. That's definitely not the outcome that Dan Watson (Matthew Carey) and his band of jocks want. Zach has to deal with them, the police, some local tough lads, and more, as he attempts to make his way through the list. Meanwhile, some younger lads try to make the most of their luck when forced to host a party to commemorate the big event.

Written by Jon Land and Jonathan Thies, Dirty Deeds doesn't really have a sharp script or any memorable one-liners, but that's okay. The ten tasks, and the lengths that Zach has to go to in order to complete them, that's where all of the fun comes from.

David Kendall does a decent enough job as director, keeping things well paced and simple. It's only in the final 10-15 minutes where the film really stumbles, but it's a stumble so bad that it undoes a lot of the good work that came beforehand.

Ventimiglia is fine in the lead role, cool and confident at almost every turn. Carey is enjoyably unlikable, as is Tom Amandes (playing the Vice Principal who ends up . . . . . . well . . . . you'll see). Charles Durning is fun in a small role, Zoe Saldana shows a hint of the presence that would help her become a bigger star just a few years down the line, Arielle Kebbel is cute, and Lacey Chabert is always a welcome addition to any movie, in my opinion.

Not as outrageous or funny as it could/should be, Dirty Deeds is still an amusing way to spend 90 minutes. It's not unmissable, but it's not too painful either. It's just a real shame about that lame ending.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dirty-Deeds-DVD-Milo-Ventimiglia/dp/B0010Z9ORY/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1394059142&sr=1-1&keywords=dirty+deeds