It is a performances centric movie

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

An Exercise In Nonsense

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"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

Tense thriller in which an intrepid reporter (Russell) unwittingly becomes part of the story he's covering when a psychopathic murderer singles him out as his conduit for broadcasting his crimes. Richard Jordan is superb and it's his carefully constructed characterisation that sets this film apart from others of the ilk. The scene in which Russell unknowingly comes face to face with his headline, is an absolute cracker in retrospect and underscores the depth with which Jordan delves into his character, adding the multiple dimensions that those other inferior films lack.The cast is excellent, with Bradford and Garcia as the frustrated cops, always last to know the next move while Russell cashes in on the scoops fed to him by the elusive killer, apparently ignorant of the fact he's being exploited and potentially complicit in the hideous crimes that unfold. Cult favourite William Smith also has a pivotal supporting role in another memorable performance. Some reviews dismiss this taut thriller as just another run-of-the-mill serial killer flick, but in my opinion, it's among the best of its breed. Good to see Russell in a serious flick, and while Hemingway was briefly popular around that time, the best thing that can be said about her character is she doesn't detract too much from the core plot. But as aforesaid, this film owes its success to Richard Jordan, and is certainly one of the key films in his legacy.

I fully agree with 'Cabbleaddict' all right... Maybe not QUITE as bad as all that, but definitely NOT a keeper by any means. And YES, I also agree that likely the main culprit here was the director (thus like CA said, not surprisingly the guy did only 2 other films) First thing on looking this up here on IMDb was 'Who the hell is that...???'Basically, pretty much the word 'amateurish' sums up my overall impression. Nice outdoor shots though; after viewing the film and before looking it up I would have sworn due to it's sort of dated execution (even for the time) that it had been made several years before this.As to the one comment in the discussion section, yes, Mariel does indeed look a tad 'Manish' (except for the lovely set displayed in the shower of course : ) but ever since seeing 'PERSONAL BEST' (cough...) I'm afraid that I've been quite taken with her (and that was BEFORE the implants!!!)Okay, okay... sorry to get carried away there... Basically there are MANY films starring these same people, not necessarily together of course, where they are LIGHT YEARS better. You wanna see a good solid Kurt Russell film, see either 'SOLDIER' (for Sci Fi fans) or 'THE THING' of course, for Horror fans, 'DARK BLUE' an excellent Police Drama / Thriller, or the more recent 'THE ART OF THE STEAL'. Another excellent film directed a MILLION times better than this one by the excellent Sidney Lumet, stars Andy Garcia and a lovely cast in 'NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN', another excellent Police Thriller!But, this one... just a '4' I'm afraid...

Malcolm Anderson is an intrepid reporter for a Miami newspaper, growing frustrated with the job he is thinking of moving away. As it turns out, the latest story he is on is going to involve him far more than he could ever have imagined.The Mean Season has a good cast working well, the direction is solid and safe, and the location work is very pleasing. Sadly the technical aspects of the piece far outweigh its substance, for The Mean Season brings nothing new to a constantly tired genre, even allowing for it being a mid eighties piece, the turns in the plot had been done to death long before this Kurt Russell effort hit the screens. Highlight in the picture is a fine bad guy turn from Richard Jordan, genuine menace portrayed from his voice work to his actual psychical acting, but sadly the script fails to let his character get fully into evil territory. There is a reason that something like Se7en nine years later became such a popular movie, because it's bringing new stuff to the table, a serial killer film to get under your skin, all The Mean Season does is scratch the surface, and after it's more than great first quarter, that is a major let down. 5/10