The Mean Season

I think the worst crime a film can commit is to be dull. It doesn't matter what your film is about, there is always a way to catch the audience off-guard and throw some surprises into the mix. 'The Mean Season' is one of those films that plays out exactly as expected. It checks all the boxes the studio would want it to, but man is it a forgettable ride.

Even when the killer is on the phone everything just feels so safe and watered down. The most daring thing the film does is a gratuitous nudity scene (seriously, where did that come from?). Near the end there is a little mini-twist I'll give the film credit for, however it's a bit late by that stage.

I didn't hate this film though. It was just such an interesting premise that I wanted more out of it. I wanted it to fire some shots and take some risks. It didn't though and for that reason I suspect I will have forgotten about this film by tomorrow morning. 6/10.

Richard Jordan who has played a number of really psychotic villains is the main reason to see The Mean Season. He quite steals the film from Kurt Russell a crime reporter and Mariel Hemingway who is Russell's girlfriend and the last woman Jordan stalks.

Russell has truly grown to dislike his job on a big city paper in this case Miami where he's gotten a specialty in crime reporting, the more lurid the better. He's considering an offer from a small town Colorado paper to take over as editor.

That's when things get interesting. Jordan is a serial killer who Russell has been writing about and in his twisted way considers Kurt to be some kind of personal publicist for him and his peers. Now he starts calling to give him heads up exclusives knowing that this will lead to Mariel's own abduction.

That's the one thing about criminals of the psychotic mind. They don't reason like the rest of us. It sounds wild and improbable the notion that Jordan has, but that's the hard part for FBI and local profiler's jobs, getting in those sick minds to see how they work.

Jordan is one sick and twisted puppy. The rest of the cast is fine, but he really stands out in The Mean Season.

Decent enough movie, with an absolutely menacing performance by Richard Jordan as the sick, deluded serial killer.

Kurt Russell was...just okay. I couldn't quite figure out what he was getting at. He was burnt out in his job with the newspaper in Miami. He seemed to be craving just the situation that he found himself in. Conversing with a serial killer, and writing about it; Having a literal front row seat at the story of the year; being the central figure in a national story; "approaching pulitzer territory". However, Russell erupted into attitude with just about everybody he came into contact with. At one point, he's smugly satisfied to have found himself to be so deeply involved in an emerging story of a sadistic serial killer, then he snaps at the killer when events aren't turning out favorably. This doesn't seem like the emotional response you would expect from a seasoned reporter. A serial killer is doing something like this just to play with the heads of authority. To expect him to behave rationally is naive and foolish.

However, Russell gamely does generally well with the character, and there are effectively troubling and suspenseful aspects to the film. The subject of newspaper ethics is broached and discussed, although I'm not sure all that effectively.

Andy Garcia, Richard Bradford and Richard Masur were excellent.

Mariel Hemingway was absolutely terrible. She either was giggling, looking completely bewildered, or hysterical. Granted, the script gave her little else to do, but a creative actress could have made something out of it. She completely distracted me every time she was on screen. Just a terrible job.

All in all, a decent, flawed movie with a first-rate performance by Jordan. He made the movie worth it.

Based on the John Katzenbach story "In the Heat of the Summer", this Florida-lensed crime thriller does hold ones' attention with its straightforward telling of an intriguing tale.

Kurt Russell is aces as Malcolm Anderson, a star reporter for the Miami Journal who is contacted by a murderous psychopath (Richard Jordan) who has killed once and who promises that there will be other murders. The killer, who craves the spotlight, decides to use Anderson as his mouthpiece, creating a very uneasy "collaboration" between killer and reporter. Things start to really turn South when Anderson starts getting the bulk of the attention, leaving the killer feeling resentful.

This is an interesting set-up for a movie that ultimately does indeed lose a fair deal of its impact by turning conventional for its final act, but until then it's solidly entertaining, with the performances of Russell and Jordan serving as effective anchors. The give and take between their two characters is compelling stuff, and it's a good thing that Anderson isn't treated as some typically infallible movie hero.

The supporting cast is mostly strong; Mariel Hemingway as Andersons' schoolteacher girlfriend Christine is appealing as she always is, but her character has little to do besides look and act concerned and eventually be put into peril. Richard Masur (reunited with Russell, along with producers Lawrence Turman and David Foster, three years after "The Thing") is Andersons' editor, Andy Garcia (in one of his earliest movie roles) and Richard Bradford are the weary detectives on the case, Joe Pantoliano is a photographer, and the almighty movie tough guy William Smith appears briefly as a character supplying critical information.

The Miami setting adds a lot of atmosphere, especially as the storms start coming up towards the end of the story. Lalo Schifrins' music is also highly effective. Even in light of the clichéd climactic confrontation, there is some enjoyable resonance to "The Mean Season" as it deals with the big issue of journalistic culpability, and the role that the media play in our receipt of the news. An overall grim feel to the presentation, and a spooky opening, are also assets in this generally good, if not great, and reasonably convincing movie.

Seven out of 10.

This was a pretty good movie. Its got good suspense towards the end but it will never top BREAKDOWN, which is his ultimate suspense movie. Mariel Hemingway was a good choice, she hasn't been in much lately. I think she is still pretty. Well, Kurt does a good job. This is worth seeing and its from 1985. It has violence, language and nudity.