Synopsis
A routine investigation of a shocking murder takes a bizarre twist when the killer contacts the reporter and appoints him his personal spokesman. As the killer's calls and clues increase, the reporter is lured into a deadly trap.
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Cast
- Kurt RussellMalcolm Anderson
- Mariel HemingwayChristine Connelly
- Richard JordanAlan Delour
- Richard MasurBill Nolan
- Richard BradfordPhil Wilson
- Joe PantolianoAndy Porter
- Andy GarcíaRay Martinez
- Rose PortilloKathy Vasquez
- William SmithAlbert O'Shaughnessy
- Lee SandmanHarold Jacoby
Recommendations
- 80
Los Angeles Times
The Mean Season makes deft use of the thriller form to examine the relationship between those who report the news and those who make it, and how that line can blur dangerously. The film is very honest about how seductive a byline can be. - 80
The New York Times
Philip Borsos, who directed ''The Grey Fox,'' builds the suspense of The Mean Season slowly and, for the most part, very effectively. - 80
Variety
Jordan is at his shrewdly crazed best, anchoring the movie with a felt terror, initially just through his off-screen voice as he manipulates the reporter over the phone and ultimately through his cunning. - 60
Time Out
The film lacks nothing in verisimilitude. Only, perhaps, something in meaning: all the ingredients are assembled, but one leaves the cinema still waiting for someone to hand over the recipe. - 60
Newsweek
This movie has the weather of "Body Heat," the moral stance of "Absence of Malice" and the perverse plot-angle of "Tightrope." It's also not as good as any of these. [25 Feb 1985, p.85] - 50
TV Guide Magazine
An uneven and somewhat predictable thriller. - 50
Chicago Tribune
The only redeeming aspects of the film are its striking production design by Philip Jefferies--a sweltering Miami similar to the look of ''Body Heat''-- and a convincing performance by Richard Masur as the city editor of the film`s fictional Miami newspaper. - 50
Miami Herald
"Overworked" is the word for much of the movie. The Mean Season has the feel of a project much tinkered with, so that it seems both laborious and scattered. For a melodrama it moves too slowly, and for a thriller it is too obvious; you can see the seams, see the film's gears move when its works should be invisible. [15 Feb 1985, p.D1]
