The Mean Season

This is one scary movie. Richard Jordan is one of the finest actors ever to grace stage and screen. He died too early, and we were the losers. Jordan's talent makes this movie a TEN.

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.

There is nothing worse than a dull serial killer thriller, but somehow "The Mean Season" manages not only to be dull but redundant as well. Phone call after phone call to Kurt Russell, with little or no forward movement of the storyline. There are absolutely zero creative moments in this movie, and the cast seems uninspired to say the least. Special mention must be made of Mariel Hemingway's performance, which can only be described as dreadful. The ending is especially weak, with some totally unacceptable police work, not to mention the killer's unbelievable good fortune. Even for Kurt Russell fans, this will be a disappointment. - MERK

Kurt Russell and Andy Garcia are good eye candy and pretty believable in their roles but this is a kind of run of the mill thriller. The issue of the reporter's complicity in the story he's writing about just isn't developed as well as it should be, probably because the plot twists in a direction it shouldn't have gone. You could easily put this film aside, except that Richard Jordan is so frightening, so intelligent, manipulative and totally psychotic as the killer that you can't look away. He puts more electricity in the film than the lightning does, and it's worth watching just to see him give acting lessons. Just make sure you leave the lights on while you're watching.

Enjoyed the great acting performance that Mariel Hemingway did with her role as (Christine Connelly),"Lipstick",'76, in which she plays a very frustrated girl friend who is madly in love with Kurt Russell,(Malcolm Anderson),"Stargate",'94, who tries to retire as a reporter from a big city newspaper and go to a quite newspaper in Colorado. Malcolm goes to his Managing Editor and tries to resign but becomes involved with a young girl being murdered and from then on all kinds of hell breaks loose. There is lots of action and mystery involved and Richard Jordan,(Alan Delour), "Posse",'93 adds greatly to the plot and gets deeply involved with Christine and Malcolm. It is sad that Richard Jordan went to a higher stage to perform on and suddenly passed away at an early age. When ever Mariel Hemingway or Kurt Russell perform, you can always expect a great film to view and enjoy.

THE MEAN SEASON (1985) **1/2 Kurt Russell, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Jordan, Richard Masur, Richard Bradford, Andy Garcia. Not bad suspenser with Russell as a newspaper reporter suddenly caught up in the story of a serial killer and himself in harm's way. Surprise ending.

The reporter Malcolm Anderson (Kurt Russell) is contacted by a serial killer, Alan Delour (Richard Jordan), who seeks promotion of his acts in the news. The only leads for the police force, commanded by Detectives Ray Martinez (Andy Garcia) and Phil Wilson (Richard Bradford), are the contacts of the criminal through Malcolm and the bodies of his victims. When Malcolm becomes more important for the media than Alan, the killer becomes jealous and kidnaps Malcolm's girlfriend, Christine (Mariel Hemingway), looking for revenge and more attention for his crimes. "The Mean Season" is an efficient thriller, mostly supported by the great performance of Kurt Russell, in excellent physical shape. The story has minor flaws and some clichés, but hooks the attention of the viewer until the last scene. Watching it again in 2005, we can see a not famous Andy Garcia in the beginning of his brilliant career. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Temporada Sangrenta" ("Bloody Season")

The first half of this find-the-serial killer movie was excellent. The story was very interesting and got me hooked into it, big-time. That made the second half really disappointing as the story evolved into one cliché after another. Two big examples: the killer abducting the hero's girlfriend and then making a surprise showing at his house at the end when everyone presumes he's dead. Man, how many movies does that happen? Too many. Kurt Russell plays his normal macho role and Mariel Hemingway joins him as the female lead. She looked nice. Overall, if you like crime movies it's worth seeing. But, rent it, don't buy it.