Retro Review: “The Mean Season”: Solid Crime Thriller with the great Kurt Russell
Given the harrowing state of print journalism these days, re-watching the investigative journalist-does-the-job-the-police-can’t-or-won’t-do Thriller, “The Mean Season” is almost sad.
With the legendary Sports Illustrated vanishing in a puff of smoke, and over 100 staffers let go last week from the Los Angeles Times, Print is still on a kind of life support. And the idea of a “Journo” (as they call them Down Undah) crusading for Justice seems almost quaint.
At least an old school Reporter, who used a character-based word processor to type up his stories, on deadline.
Journo Heroes? Nothing New
You might be thinking “All The President’s Men” here, and you would not be wrong — at least the idea in that film that dedicated journos could change the world by taking down a sitting president. “President’s” was anchored by great performances by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford.
With “Mean” we have a passable story, ably directed by Philip Borsos, with a solid lead performance by Russell. And the equally solid Mariel Hemingway as Anderson’s love interest, Christine Connelly.
A murder has taken place in Miami, and Anderson volunteers to cover the story. Given that he is an Investigative Journalist, that might seem strange, as usually that assignment would go to the Beat Reporter covering Crime. As soon as Anderson starts digging, he discovers that the murder may or may not be related to Organized Crime. And when a second body turns up with the same Modus Operandi, Russell’s keen instincts tell him that someone may be committing murders related to Organized Crime, but trying to hide them as the work of a Serial Killer.
What a Twist
Things are moving along quite nicely until the killer decides to contact Anderson, and the Journo becomes part of the story. This introduces a nice tension into what would otherwise have been a pretty pedestrian crime thriller.
The Miami PD gets off their lazy butts and finally start taking the killings seriously, and Anderson suddenly becomes what we now call a “person of interest”. Clearly he is not involved in the killings, but given the strange connection he has to the killer teh cops are interested in where Anderson goes, and what he does.
Which gets even more complicated when Hemingway’s Christine Connelly gets roped in. Suddenly, for Anderson, the stakes are even higher than just him maybe being killed. How this will all get resolved is for you to find out, if you end up watching “The Mean Season”.
The Film-making
As I said, “The Mean Season” is no “All the President’s Men”, but few films are. It is competently written and directed, with some dialogue and camerawork that are a bit over-blown. It is interesting to think that Michael Mann’s TV series, “Miami Vice” would come out a few years later, and give us a vision of a seedy-but-beautiful (and cool) Miami that films and TV shows that came before couldn’t capture.
There are a few plot contrivances that are a bit annoying, like having a hurricane descend on Miami, “Key Largo” style, and force Anderson, Connelly and, unbeknownst to them, the Killer, hole up in Anderson’s rickety home. But Russell is the main attraction, here, and he is believable as a Journo on a Mission — even if it might kill him.
Watch or don’t?
“The Mean Season” is worth your time, especially if you like Russell, and/or like films from this era. It is available in HD on Max, and for rent or purchase on various other platforms, such as Amazon Prime Video.
