a5c7b9f00b 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. So how could it have turned out so awful? How can you have Kline and Keitel, Steiger and Sarandon, Aiello, Rickman, Mastrantonio, and yet produce such a stinker? <br/><br/>Start with an awful script. 1,000 monkeys couldn't have done worse.<br/><br/>From there, proceed to unbelievably bad direction.<br/><br/>I kept waiting for it to get funny, since it was never going to get serious. It was never going to make sense. But the comedic talents of many of the cast were wasted as well.<br/><br/>I thought the actors might revolt, mid filming. I mean, after all, why have your name associated with this kind of a stinker? I kept thinking of "The Producers." The producers of this lemon must have sold 1,000% of the movie, right? They needed to have it go straight down the toilet so they could pocket the investors' money without having to account for it. There would be no "Springtime with Hitler" to save the day.<br/><br/>But Norman Jewison produced this. He's made a dozen great movies! <br/><br/>This doesn't belong in the vault at MGM. It belongs in a crypt at Forest Lawn. With a stake through its heart. Since today is (well yesterday was) Susan Sarandon's 60th birthday, I saw fit to review one of her lesser known movies (actually, it's Kevin Kline's movie). "January Man" is not a movie that I really know how to describe. Kevin Kline plays Nick Starkey, an ex-cop who gets drug back into the force to help find a serial killer. It's certainly a common plot. This one toes the line between thriller and love story; I guess that neither is supposed to dominate.<br/><br/>I would say that the movie's main strength lies in the various kinds of characters portrayed. Aside from Kline's ex-cop and Sarandon as his wife, there's the new love interest (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), Nick's brother (Harvey Keitel), the tough captain (Danny Aiello), and the old-order mayor (Rod Steiger); Alan Rickman also stars.<br/><br/>So, did I think that this was a good movie? I don't know what it really was. An interesting group of people with an anticlimactic ending, more than anything. I suppose that the movie's worth seeing, if only once.
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