The January Man

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Matt F One of my favorites that I watched again last week. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/27/24 Full Review Blu B After being absolute borefest for most of the runtime, it decides out of nowhere to just become a comedy with it's big showdown with the strangler out of nowhere. The editing and pacing are so horifcally bad here. This jumps around most of the first half and is completely incoherent with pointless subplots and scenes that make no sense or are incredibly boring. It does decide to get focused out of nowhere in the second half, but the twist with the star consellations is so stupid and so lazily given to us it's amazing. On top of the comedic tone change at the end. The cinematography isn't good either. Nothing visual happens and the scenes just meander soooo much. It's just people talking and Rod Steiger pouring his heart into every scene. The music is boring and forgettable. The acting isn't good either despite an absolute all star cast and everyone trying here. You barely know what anyone's motivations are half the time and it feels like there over the top out of nowhere half the time as well or their just boring. It never generates tension or suspense in the slightest as a crime thriller. Skip This Borefest. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 08/27/24 Full Review John P Good actors, good plot. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/22/24 Full Review Hilary E It was truly a terrible movie-- no chemistry and badly acted...which is surprising because it had a very good cast. Kevin Kline seemed batty and not endearing, Susan Sarandon just blah in this role, Rod Steiger seemed insane-- always screaming-- Alan Rickman served zero purpose except to give a gratuitous nude scene with a busty model, and same goes for Harvey Keitel-- he is pretty pointless in this disjointed movie. A big flat waste of time that barely even makes sense. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/24 Full Review Ola G On New Year's Eve, Manhattan socialite Alison Hawkins returns home from the evening's festivities. As she feeds her fish before going to bed, she is strangled to death by an undetected intruder with a blue ribbon. It is the latest murder by a serial killer who has been terrorizing the city for eleven months. The mayor, frustrated with the lack of progress in the case, tells NYPD commissioner Frank Starkey (Harvey Keitel) to bring in his brother, former detective Nick Starkey (Kevin Kline), being the only man brilliant enough to catch the killer. This is a controversial assignment for Frank because Nick left the force in disgrace two years earlier. Frank talks Nick into returning, but only on the condition that he be able to cook dinner the next night for Frank's wife, Christine (Susan Sarandon), who is Nick's ex-girlfriend. After a press conference announcing Nick's reinstatement, Christine and Nick have dinner. Old wounds are opened, including mention of a canceled check which indicated that Frank was involved in the scandal that got Nick fired. After reporting for work, Nick takes a different office than the one he was assigned because the light was not to the liking of his friend Ed (Alan Rickman), a painter. After getting Captain Alcoa (Danny Aiello) to add Ed to the payroll as his assistant, Nick begins work on the case. His first lead is to speak to the mayor's daughter, Bernadette (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who was a friend of Alison. After Nick and Bernadette visit Alison's apartment, he decides to let her stay at his apartment because she is too frightened to return to her own. Nick realizes that the previous murders occurred on dates that are prime numbers, all of which are among the twelve prime numbers possible up to the number 31. Because 5 is the only one of the prime numbers that has not been used, Nick deduces that the next murder will take place the following night, on the fifth of the month.... The movie received negative reviews from critics. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote: "The January Man is worth study as a film that fails to find its tone. It's all over the map. It wants to be zany but violent, satirical but slapstick, romantic but cynical. It wants some of its actors to rant and rave like amateur tragedians, and others to reach for subtle nuances. And it wants all of these things to happen at the same time." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post was even more harsh, writing, "Eliot called April the cruelest month, but then he hadn't seen The January Man. Billed as a mystery with romance and comedy, it is a damp sock of a movie that makes you wish for a leap year." (Via Wikipedia) Despite a strong cast containing of Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Harvey Keitel, Danny Aiello, Rod Steiger and Alan Rickman this so called crime comedy tries to fit in so many genres at the same time which creates a silly mess that is not entertaining nor exciting. "The January Man" is a failure. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/25/23 Full Review Wirmer F A very good movie that has stood the test of time. The acting, writing, and directing are superb. It's too bad movies like this aren't made anymore. The negative crowd reviewers should be ashamed of their ignorant stupidity. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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