The story of a super-capable, CIA-trained assassin with amnesia, whose memory gradually returns while being hunted by the very agency that trained her, "The Long Kiss Goodnight" (1996) certainly has a lot in common with the Bourne franchise, which was first a 1980 book by Robert Ludlum, then a TV miniseries before becoming a big-screen hit starring Matt Damon ("The Martian," 2015) in 2002. In fact, the comparisons continue as both assassins ultimately have to choose between their old life and the new one they built after their trauma.

Given the undeniable similarities and considering the timelines, one would assume that "Kiss" writer Shane Black ("Predator," 1987) at least borrowed from Ludlum's story. The film's credits, however, would have curious viewers believe otherwise.

To be fair, there are a lot of differences as well. For starters, the assassin in "Kiss" is a woman, played by the great Geena Davis ("Thelma & Louise," 1991), who lives a totally separate life for years before her memory starts to return. Not to mention that the description above only comprises half the plot.

The other half of "Kiss" is a detective movie, thanks to the low-rent private detective (Samuel L. Jackson, fresh off his incredible turn in 1994's "Pulp Fiction") who helps her solve the puzzle from her past.

This element of the film owes a debt to another book-film combo, but this time the director pays up: the film's title, if nothing else, seems to pay homage to the classic Raymond Chandler novel "The Long Goodbye," published in 1953. The 1973 film adaptation of the novel is seen playing on a TV in the background at one point during "The Long Kiss Goodnight."

In another way, "Kiss" actually did pay a debt to "The Bourne Identity" in the form of Brian Cox. Cox (best known lately as the star of HBO's "Succession") played a CIA suit with a mysterious role in the amnesiac assassin's past in "Kiss" and then did so again in 2002's "The Bourne Identity."

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