O Calendário da Morte

"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.

January man is kind of a neat movie that is clearly a romantic comedy masquerading as a psychological thriller. It has a wonderful cast, an acclaimed screenwriter and even a Marvin Hamlisch score. The film was billed as almost an older version of 'The Bone Collector'. But it seems more like a serial killer version of 'Moonstruck'. I can see why many people were disappointed in the film. They saw the movie from a totally different angle. The serial killer (the January man) is almost ancillary to the actual plot of the movie. It is a Kevin Kline driven vehicle with a old and new love interest(Sarandon & Mastrantonio). It has the re-reinstatement of a hero cop who takes a fall from grace for his brother (Harvey Keitel)and is banished from the police department and is relegated to fighting fires rather than criminals. It has the cro-magnon police captain (Aiello) and the even older Mayor(Steiger). All these pieces of the puzzle come together to provide decent little film which I think is clearly misunderstood.

One of the most insane mainstream movies I've seen. An absurd mix of thriller, comedy, romance, and other things; the manic behaviour, strange dialogues, and weird/inconsistent mood-changes make this a very silly movie but also an enjoyable one. As flawed as it might be, I dare anyone to say that it's dull. Star-studded, as film-critics love to say, but in a good sense. Kline is entertaining as the detective-turned-fireman-turned-detective, Steiger - sporting silly blond hair - overacts like a lunatic in the role of the city's emotional mayor, Aiello plays the classic ever-angry cliché police boss, Keitel stands around looking rather bored, Mastrantonio shows that she's got terrific breasts, the model for the painting shows she's got even better breasts, and it's always good to have Susan Sarandon in a movie - though quite ironically of all actresses she doesn't show her terrific chest! The serial-killer in the story must be the most absurd serial-killer either on film or in reality: the method that he uses to select his victims, and the time and the place, has to be seen to be believed. The film has most of the elements to make it a camp classic.

If you're looking for extreme suspense and top-notch thriller, go watch Seven. But if you're looking for a nice little movie with stellar cast, very good acting and silly story that'll amuse you for some 90 minutes, then try The January man. It is silly - an absurd mix of thriller, comedy, romance, drama, good cop - bad cop, the story is full of flaws, but the movie itself is really well done. Too many people around wonder where's logic in it and give it low rating because of that, but The dark knight (with sillier story and average acting) is somehow best film of a decade?!? This is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously and neither should you.

One of Kevin Kline's better films. An interesting thriller of a flic with a very good supporting cast. So good in fact that Danny Aiello as the highly agitated police administrator & Alan Rickman as "Ed" nearly steal the show. The movie has an interesting plot and some reasonably good humor to go along with the suspense of the story line. If you're looking for a good suspense movie, a few laughs or if you're just a Kevin Kline fan who wants to catch up on his back catalog give January Man a play. You definitely won't regret it.