1985 Directed by Phillip Borsos
A routine investigation of a shocking murder takes a bizarre twist when the killer contacts the reporter and appoints him his personal spokesman. As the killer's calls and clues increase, the reporter is lured into a deadly trap.
Kurt Russell Mariel Hemingway Richard Jordan Richard Masur Richard Bradford Joe Pantoliano Andy García Rose Portillo William Smith Lee Sandman Dan Fitzgerald Cynthia Caquelin Fred Ornstein Fritz Bronner Mike DeRienzo Michael Clay Fred Buch Bruce McLaughlin Marshall B. Gage Jill Beach Peter Lundquist Connie Hicks Bill Rutherford Robert Small Nancy Duerr Mary Lou Simo Tamara Jones Joan Murphy Richard Liberty Show All…
Dennie Thorpe Ron Scelza Bill Nelson Gary Summers Randy Thom Gloria S. Borders Richard Hymns Victor Livingston Rob Fruchtman
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USAR
Germany16
Greece16
Germany
Greece
USA
Cat and mouse thriller with an early performance from Andy Garcia in a supporting role. The setting is Miami during the so-called mean season, when the summer is winding down and the thunder storms become more violent. Made before the 90s post-Silence of the Lambs serial killer boom, there's not much to recommend here. I tend to like movies about serial killers but this is a rather bland one. However seeing Kurt Russell being driven out of his mind got me through it. There's some good cinematography highlighting the Miami heat and lightning storms. The bombastic score by Lalo Schifrin is effective if not at times overdone. Thanks to its cast and South Florida setting, The Mean Season is a watchable albeit average 80s thriller. If you haven't see Michael Mann's Manhunter (released a year later), which also has a hero who's a reflection of the killer he's chasing, make that your priority.
About what I expected. Our national obsession with serial killers was only just getting cooking back in 1985, so I give this some credit for being ahead of the curve in some respects. The Miami-Dade location shoots establish a realistic (and sweaty) feel, the interactions between Kurt Russell's burned out crime reporter and Richard Jordan's serial murderer are appropriately tense, and the movie even touches on the inherently exploitative nature of crime reporting -- but ultimately the good stuff gets undercut by a rather generic climax and a pretty lousy performance from Mariel Hemingway as Russell's girlfriend.
Still watchable for Russell and Jordan, plus an exceptionally strong B-team (Andy Garcia, Richard Masur, William Smith, Joe Pantoliano and Richard Bradford) lending solid support.
Did I mention there's air boats? And Russell leaping an open drawbridge on foot? And that he types really fast?
Fascinating in how it presages both Seven and Zodiac, with a serial killer forming a strange relationship with a reporter, leading him through a string of numbered killings. But neither of those movies have charmingly old school touches like spinning newspaper transitions or Kurt Russell jumping across a raised bridge and sliding down the other side, so checkmate Mean Season.
Kurt is looking fuego in this one. He pulls up in a Mustang convertible, rocking a cream blue suit with a burgundy knitted tie and wire frame glasses. Meanwhile Joey Pants is out here dressed exactly like old photos of my dad, reminding me that that’s the kind of genetic fashion sense I’m working with.
Kurt Russell is a burnt out reporter who finds a new passion for journalism when he becomes the mouthpiece for a serial killer (Richard Jordan), much to the chagrin of his girlfriend (Mariel Hemingway), delight of his editor (Richard Masur) as well as the rag's sleazy photographer (Joe Pantoliano), and the general annoyance of our detectives (Andy Garcia and Richard Bradford). Throw in a two minute cameo by the king of the one day shoot, my man William Smith - and this is a who's who of all my favourite people.
After that god awful Christmas Chronicle, I needed to see some vintage Russell to get the taste out of my mouth. The Mean Season is a wonderfully tense thriller,…
Saw this at my local video store(Black Dog) and knew nothing about it but the cover and hey I like Kurt Russell so I thought why not give it a spin. This wasn't that bad actually the story is a decent cat and mouse plot of a journalist for Florida newspaper dealing with a serial killer who only talks to him. This opens a lot of intriguing elements like turning the spotlight on the reporter and the issues it causes on many factors of his life. Richard Jordan blindsided me with how good he was in this in fact it's a pretty solid cast throughout. This director didn't do to many films due to dying young which is a shame because this was better than most Thrillers in the 80's and hey Lalo Schifrin did the soundtrack that's just a cherry on top.
1985, Kurt Russell in a baby blue suit driving a drop top Mustang, Joe Pantoliano, Mariel Hemingway, a young Andy Garcia? The great Richard Jordan? I remember my father telling me that Michael Mann had to rework the ending of Manhunter (1986) because this flick snatched the ending from its source material, Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.
The Mean Season is definitely your standard cat & mouse thriller, but the cast is juiced, the Florida vibes are sweaty, and Russell’s wardrobe is enviable. Anything is possible in a good suit. Dad was right, though. They might have lifted a few pages from Harris.
Really, this should have been about when David Moyes managed United.
I thought I'd seen The Mean Season before but it turns out that I hadn't. I just didn't remember anything from this at all. I think I might be mixing it up with Tequila Sunrise, although I've marked that as watched as well. I've definitely seen that one, by the way.
So now that I'm done with writing the dullest paragraph in Letterboxd history, beating the previous dullest paragraph which was also written by me, is The Mean Season good? Yes, The Mean Season is quite good. It's one of those films that's never going to be great because it's got loads of stuff in it that never features…
Decent, but uneven serial killer jam that feels like the test case for a handful of tropes that would be perfected in better movies over the following years.
A great looking film with desaturated colors and gritty south Florida locations. I especially liked the recurring inserts of the rumbling rolling clouds and thought they set the tone nicely. The pieces are all there. You have an all-star team of character actors (Ritchie Masur, Joey Pants), peak Kurt Russell (what a head of hair he had), and Richard Jordan going all in as the films villain (did he get fat for this film?). However, at the end of the day it never fully works.
This is my first time seeing a…
An interesting premise that has charm to spare thanks to Kurt Russell who stars as newspaperman Malcolm Anderson.
Malcolm is burned out and wants to quit his job and move to Colorado with his schoolteacher girlfriend Christine Connelly (Mariel Hemingway) but a wrench is thrown into their plans when a killer tells Malcolm that he'll get exclusive access after liking the stories Malcolm wrote about him.
There's an interesting look at how objective any journalist actually is and what happens when the behind the scenes person takes center stage.
Unfortunately the second half of the film and last act in particular devolve into standard thriller territory and the interesting build up and opening that showed promise by making the newsroom…
can tell that no women were involved with making this thing given how laughable hemingway's character was throughout. spoiler (who cares), but there is a full on fight scene at the end between russell and jordan and she just sits on the couch screaming russell's name. it's just ludicrous to watch given that she's like 6 feet tall and could definitely do something, anything, to help.
anyway just a dumb movie overall, no need to watch at all. cool to see a young andy garcia i guess.
