Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most prolific actors of the last three decades, with over 200 acting credits on his IMDb profile, over 130 of which are movie roles. You would think that with so many to choose from, Jackson would find selecting just one as his best movie would be nigh-on impossible. But this is not the case – Jackson has a clear favourite from all of the movies he’s appeared in.
Jackson has worked with masters such as Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Kasi Lemmons. But his choice of favourite movie is a surprising one and involves none of these great names from Hollywood history.
The movie that Jackson has repeatedly cited as his best is 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight. The action movie stars Geena Davis and was directed by her then-husband Renny Harlin. The screenwriter was Shane Black, who has since written and directed MCU movie Iron Man 3. But despite Jackson’s love for it, The Long Kiss Goodnight was a box office flop.
Jackson discussed his top 5 favourite characters with Jimmy Fallon in 2019, which included the kind of characters you would expect, such as Jules from Pulp Fiction and Mace Windu. But he concluded with; “My favourite is this kind of wacky private detective, kind of crazy dude – Mitch Hennessy from The Long Kiss Goodnight. I love that movie, man. I had such a good time with Geena Davis.”
He also revealed that he initially died in the movie, but they showed it to test audiences, who said “hell, no!” Shane Black has since made the neo-noirs Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys, both of which are highly acclaimed and beloved as comedy classics. It looks as though audiences weren’t ready for The Long Kiss Goodnight, but look back on it more favourably now.
Check out our guide to the best detective movies.