Scott LeBrun Based on the John Katzenbach story "In the Heat of the Summer", this Florida-lensed crime thriller does hold ones' attention with its straightforward telling of an interesting tale. Kurt Russell is aces as Malcolm Anderson, a star reporter for the Miami Journal who is contacted by a murderous psychopath (Richard Jordan) who has killed once and who promises that there will be other murders. The killer, who craves the spotlight, decides to use Anderson as his mouthpiece, creating a very uneasy "collaboration" between killer and reporter. Things start to really turn South when Anderson starts getting the bulk of the attention, leaving the killer feeling resentful. This is a solid set-up for a movie that ultimately does indeed lose a fair deal of its impact by turning conventional for its final act, but until then it's solidly entertaining, with the performances of Russell and Jordan serving as effective anchors. The give and take between their two characters is compelling stuff, and it's a good thing that Anderson isn't treated as some typically infallible movie hero. The supporting cast is mostly strong; Mariel Hemingway as Anderson's schoolteacher girlfriend Christine is appealing as she always is, but her character has little to do besides look and act concerned and eventually be put into peril. Richard Masur (reunited, along with producers Lawrence Turman and David Foster, with Russell after "The Thing") is Anderson's editor, Andy Garcia (in one of his earliest movie roles) and Richard Bradford are the weary detectives on the case, Joe Pantoliano is a photographer, and the almighty movie tough guy William Smith appears briefly as a character supplying critical information. The Miami setting adds a lot of ambiance, especially as the storms start coming up towards the end of the story. Lalo Schifrin's music is also highly effective. Even in light of the clichéd climactic confrontation, there is some enjoyable resonance to "The Mean Season" as it deals with the big issue of journalistic culpability, and the role that the media play in our receipt of the news. An overall grim feel to the presentation, and an atmospheric opening, are also assets in this generally good, if not great, and reasonably convincing movie. Seven out of 10.

Rodrigo Amaro "The Mean Season" consists of showing how a psychotic tries to promote himself with his crimes by getting the attention of a journalist (Kurt Russell) who also sees a way of not only promote his writing talents and be famous but also his detective skills while trying to get this guy before he kills more victims.This is like "Zodiac" before "Zodiac" (the film) but a little after the facts of the real Zodiac killer, so there isn't much good this film can do now but back in the 1980's people, I guess, were easily impressed with this thing. It never gets scary and informative like Fincher's film, and it never gets bloody like any other flick on the same issue. Talk talk talk, that's all these characters know what to do and their talks aren't so well written to make you involved with this. And the film goes for too long in its 90 minutes or so, don't know how they did it. And there's a supermassive wave of plot holes, dumb moments, no excitement in the rare action sequences presented and more talk.The villain played by the late Richard Jordan makes this movie worth seeing, he's incredibly good. But a film rarely is sustained with only performance. The supporting cast is good but they're not at their best but it's very nice to see Richard Bradford playing one of the good guys for once. Mr. Kurt Russell has plenty of good stuff made in that decade such as "The Thing" (coincidentally he and Richard Masur act along here as well), "Big Trouble in Little China", "Overboard", "Tango & Cash" and "Escape from New York". "The Mean Season" is not one of them but it's not his fault that the script was weak. It's very visible that there's zero chemistry between he and Mariel Hemingway, even though the guy tries hard and achieves some success, the girl is just bad, bad, bad. Without question, one of the most clichéd and boring films I've ever seen. A generic picture specially made for less demanding viewers who get easily satisfied with junk. 4/10

thinker1691 This is a movie called " The Mean Season " and stars one of the best action actors of today's cinema. Kurt Russell is Malcolm Anderson a Miami reporter working for a Florida newspaper called the Journal. He is suppose to be an experienced hard hitting journalist who's immediate future is to retire his position, get married and move to a small town and settle down. His girlfriend's idea, not his. Unfortunately, a serial killer appears and calls him with the shocking details of a recent murder. Thereafter he is hooked into covering the macabre story for national coverage and that does not sit well with his girlfriend Christine (mariel Hemingway) who is stunning in her role. Richard Jordan is Alan Delour a mad killer out to prove he is not mad at all, but desires some half witted attention from the reading public. Andy Garcia in his debut appearance is Ray Martinez, a police detective. William Smith is Albert O'Shaughnessy, a veteran counselor and is surprisingly good in the small role. But it is Russell who despite his best with his character is less than convincing. The story line is clear cut and chasing Jordon proves elusive. For Russell fans, there is much to be desired and waiting for the finale is disappointing. Still, I like to see Kurt Russell and so the film is sadly relegated to his second string. ****

ccthemovieman-1 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.