Thoughts on The Mean Season

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"Listen, um, I've been reading your stories about the murder of the young girl. Um, well-written. I mean, they seem very accurate."

"Well, I appreciate the call, and I am kind of busy right now."

"I have a special interest in your stories."

"I see. Why is that?"

"Because it was me. I killed her."

Villains in journalism movies tend to prefer if information doesn't spread. Malcolm Anderson (Kurt Russell), hero of The Mean Season, has a less than typical foe. The Numbers Killer (Richard Jordan) is seeking prominence through print and doesn't react well when Malcolm's fame eclipses his own.

Whatever originality The Mean Season has is squandered by how trite it is. Anything resembling a genuine thrill comes long after it's been teased. Gene Siskel counted at least four fake outs, I counted five. Directed by Philip Borsos, The Mean Season was written by "Leon Piedmont," the pseudonym for Christopher Crowe at least, if not others. It's adapted from John Katzenbach's In the Heat of Summer.

"Malcolm, you haven't been at this long enough to be as burned out as you like to think you are."

"I've done it, Bill. Eight years, I've done it to death."

"What? What the hell does that mean? ... What do ... What do you want?"

"I don't know. ... ... Just want Watergate, right? ... ... I don't want to see my name in the paper next to pictures of dead bodies anymore."

"Reporters report. Which happens to be the one thing you do really well. I don't want to lose you to some small town paper in Colorado, Mal."

"I appreciate it, Bill."

"Mal, we're not the manufacturer. We retail. News gets made somewhere else. We just sell it."

Surprise, surprise, I found the scenes depicting reporting procedure to be the most interesting. The Mean Season is another movie with a fine ensemble. There's Richard Masur as Malcolm's editor, Joe Pantoliano as a photographer with a knack for capturing the bereaved at their most vulnerable, Richard Bradford and Andy Garcia as Malcolm's law enforcement contacts and Jordan, who's particularly great in a scene where the killer covertly observes how Malcolm does his job.

I'd have loved to include Mariel Hemingway among the movie's fine actors, but she's stuck playing a real drip. Christine, Malcolm's girlfriend, is a mate who'd make anyone reconsider celibacy. It's almost a godsend when Christine is kidnapped, as she wasn't all that effective as the voice of reason. For those keeping score, this movie earned Mariel her first strike in the field of media about print media. The other two were for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Central Park West. 

Despite a solid leading man, an interesting concept and the unique milieu of Miami in summertime, The Mean Season unfolds less like a thriller and more like filler.

"Oh, and please spell my name right."

Not Recommended.

Thoughts:
-- Box Office: Grossing $4.3 million on a $10 million budget, this opened at No. 14 and came in at No. 119 for 1985.

-- Critic's Corner, the movie: The overindulgence in cliches was panned. Janet Maslin: "... has a few more surprises than the material needed." Siskel: "... quickly degenerates into a pointless thrill show." Pauline Kael: "... inept ... the audience can't help laughing contemptuously."

-- Critic's Corner, the leads: Russell looked like the poor man's Jeff Bridges, Siskel wrote. He's got a fake-serious part that could have used some extra flash, according to Kael. Maslin didn't see much chemistry between Russell and Hemingway, and Kael saw her as "a bottomless source of hilarity."

-- Critic's Corner, the Richards: "The only real point of interest in the movie is Richard Jordan, who has often been the only real point of interest in his movies," Kael wrote. Masur had fans like Siskel, who noted his talent for "creating a completely fresh and legitimate character every time."
-- Gene also questioned the movie's foundation. "Of all the issues one can discuss in journalism today, a reporter's phone contact with a killer isn't one of the biggies." Films about libel or alleged liberal bias might have been more compelling, or at least no worse than this one, he continued. 

-- Hey, It's ...!: Edna Buchanan. The Miami Herald crime reporter, who'd win a Pulitzer in 1986, is an extra about 68 minutes into the movie. Russell prepared to play Malcolm by spending time with Buchanan and photographer Tim Chapman. For his part, Masur hung out at the Herald's city desk.

-- Fanservice Junction: Christine's taking a shower during the first fake out scare. Malcolm really was the man approaching and entering their bathroom. Later, Malcolm's completed a shower when he finds Christine talking on the phone with the killer.

-- Rule of Three: Between the shower scenes, two consecutive calls from Christine has Malcolm carefree enough to say her name at the start of his next incoming call, naturally from the killer.  

-- The movie, as told through (top of the page, no less) headlines and sub-headlines:

"Teenager found murdered," "'Execution' killer sought"

"Killer calls reporter ... promises more murders"

"Numbers Killer calls again; Duplicating previous incident," ""I get urges" he says"

"Mother slain - Infant spared," "Numbers Killer strikes; Fourth victim"

"Source tells of murder incident," "Numbers Killer connection seen"

"Reporter's girlfriend kidnapped by Killer"

-- The kidnapping headline's the last one seen, so we have to imagine what Malcolm called the article he completed in the last scene. How about, "Screw the city, I'm off to the sticks!"?

-- Next: Into the Night. On deck: The Sure Thing.