Wizard-8
"The January Man" bombed both with critics and the box office when it was released to theaters. It doesn't take long watching it to figure out why. The script, for starters, is a real mess. It takes deadly serious elements and mixes them with broadly comedic elements. It might have been possible to balance them properly when it came to filming them, but the cast doesn't seem capable of doing so. Except maybe for Alan Rickman, the cast gives really awful performances (especially Rod Steiger), not helped by a number of instances of some really terrible dialogue. You can sense director Pat O'Connor's lack of assurance with this project, not just that he couldn't steer the cast properly, but with a screenplay that has a number of elements that feel half baked or unfinished. (Actually, there are signs that the original cut of the movie was more coherent, but got edited down to a shorter running time before being released.)However, I have to admit that the movie remains weirdly watchable. It's so odd in its changing tone, next to incoherent at times with its story, and packed with really bad performances by a normally talented cast, that you can't help but keep watching in order to see what next miscalculation will be displayed on the screen. It certainly doesn't make the big mistake of being boring. If you have an interest in major studio movies that go wrong in just about every way you can think of, this does deliver.
FlashCallahan
Nick and Frank Starkey were both policemen. A scandal forced Nick to leave the force, now a serial killer has driven the police to take him back. A web that includes Frank's wife, bribery, and corruption all are in the background as Nick tries to uncover the secret of where the killer will strike next, and finally must lay a trap without the police....I'm still unsure of this movie, I've given it a seven because the last 30 minutes of the film really come into their own, and make up for the bizarreness of the preceding hour.The first hour though really doesn't know what it wants to be. A murder, family drama, random eroticism, serial killer movie, comedy, thriller. It's all here and all flawed.Aiello has never been so typecast in a film, whenever he's on screen, he's just angry. Keitel just seem bemused by the whole thing and spends the majority of it staring at Sarandon, who I turn spends the majority of the film staring at Kline and stalking him.The rest of the cast are thankfully brilliant. Kline is as good as always, and is ably supported by Mastrantonnio, and another brilliant turn by Rickman.The film comes into its own when the Red Herring gets thrown in. The comedy and thriller aspect of the film meld into one and work, and it turns into a half decent movie.Bizarre to say the very least, but interesting.
Stephen Rose
Abominably dumb. So dumb it doesn't even deserve the "b" in "dumb." Just plain d-u-m. The scriptwriter obviously doesn't know how computers work (what else is new), how criminal minds work, how police work works, or how girls work. It's not funny enough to be black comedy (maybe ecru or taupe comedy, at best), not gripping enough to be drama, and not tantalizing or charming enough to be romance. It's not even active enough to be a precursor of the silly-but-spectacular action genre. There certainly is a high concentration of respectable acting talent involved, but they must have been wondering why they were called in to begin with. A few day laborers could have handled the job just as well. The only character that really rings true is Ed, the artist. But there is absolutely no logical justification for his involvement. Maybe that's the clue to the real crime in this movie: it's a secret autobiography of a frustrated artist who wishes he could play with cops, computers, and girls.
tireless_crank
The only superlative about this movie is Rod Steiger's role. This is by far, the worst role he ever played, totally overdone every time he is on the screen with a hairdo modeled on Harpo Marx and the expository style of Hitler. Danny Aielo gets short shrift from the screen writer and Harvey Keitel gets used and thrown away. Kevin Kline has a bizarre accent, strange affect and a great ability to suppress the laughs he must be feeling at the dialog he was asked to say. Alan Rickman was cute and extraneous, Susan Sarandon was there and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has large and attractive boobs for a small woman - she didn't have much of anything else to do in this film.Plot - stupid, ridiculous, complex and extraneous.
AD
