The Mean Season (1985)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Phillip Borsos

Writers:

John Katzenbach (novel)
Leon Piedmont (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 February 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

He was a lead reporter...this was a lead story which led to death.

Plot:

Malcolm Anderson is a reporter for a Miami newspaper. He's had enough of reporting the local murders...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Reporter | Newspaper | Woman In Jeopardy | Helicopter

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	Malcolm Anderson
Mariel Hemingway	...	Christine Connelly
Richard Jordan	...	Alan Delour
Richard Masur	...	Bill Nolan
Richard Bradford	...	Phil Wilson
Joe Pantoliano	...	Andy Porter
Andy Garcia	...	Ray Martinez
Rose Portillo	...	Kathy Vasquez
William Smith	...	Albert O'Shaughnessy
John Palmer	...	Himself
Lee Sandman	...	Harold Jacoby
Dan Fitzgerald	...	Carl Mason
Cynthia Caquelin	...	Ruth Lowenstein
Fred Ornstein	...	Warren Phillips
Fritz Bronner	...	Peter Peterson
Mike DeRienzo	...	Everett Durfee
Michael Clay	...	Ray Sloane
Fred Buch	...	John Burrows
Bruce McLaughlin	...	Leonard Pridmore
Robert Apte	...	SWAT Commander
Marshall B. Gage	...	SWAT Commander
Rodney Barretto	...	SWAT Commander
Jill Beach	...	Channel 7 Anchorwoman
Peter Lundquist	...	Channel 7 Reporter
Connie Hicks	...	Channel 10 Reporter
Bill Rutherford	...	Channel 6 Reporter
George Rudolph	...	WGBS Radio Newsman
Robert Small	...	Bill Crawford
Nancy Duerr	...	TV Newswoman
Mark Fields	...	Reporter
Tim Minton	...	Reporter
Mary Lou Simo	...	Reporter
Tamara Jones	...	Sarah Hooks
Joan Murphy	...	Mrs. Hooks
Richard Liberty	...	Mr. Hooks
Paul Nagel	...	Jogger
Morris Zuckerman	...	Mr. Stein
Lillian Zuckerman	...	Mrs. Stein
Ann Browning	...	Victim in Matheson Hammock Park
Jennifer Browning	...	Victim's Infant
Robert Gwaltney	...	Psychiatrist
Christine Page	...	Elementary School Teacher
Joshua Segal	...	Schoolboy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Raymond Forchion	...	Newsroom Reporter (uncredited)
Bobby Harwell	...	Man in office greeting Malcolm (uncredited)
David Joseph Martinez	...	Newspaper Reporter (uncredited)

Directed by
Phillip Borsos

Writing credits
John Katzenbach		(novel "In the Heat of the Summer")
Leon Piedmont		(screenplay)

Produced by
David Foster	....	producer
Steve Perry	....	associate producer (as Steven H. Perry)
Lawrence Turman	....	producer

Original Music by
Lalo Schifrin

Cinematography by
Frank Tidy		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Duwayne Dunham

Casting by
Janet Hirshenson
Jane Jenkins

Production Design by
Philip M. Jefferies		(as Philip Jefferies)

Costume Design by
Julie Weiss

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
B. Thomas Seidman	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Gloria S. Borders	....	supervising dialogue editor
Rob Fruchtman	....	sound effects editor
Richard Hymns	....	sound effects editor
Laurel Ladevich	....	adr editor
Victor Livingston	....	sound effects editor
Bill Nelson	....	sound
Ron Scelza	....	sound
Greg Smith	....	machine room operator
Greg Smith	....	sound recordist
Gary Summers	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gary Summers	....	supervising sound editor
Randy Thom	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dennie Thorpe	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
Chuck Gaspar	....	special effects

Stunts
Wayne King	....	stunts
Dick Warlock	....	stunt coordinator (as Richard Warlock)
Rick Way	....	stunts
George P. Wilbur	....	stunts (as George Wilbur)
Dick Warlock	....	stunt double: Kurt Russell (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William D. Barber	....	first assistant camera
Michael McGowan	....	camera operator
Norman Zuckerman	....	best boy

Casting Department
Ed Arenas	....	casting associate

Music Department
Daniel Allan Carlin	....	supervising music editor (as Dan Allan Carlin)
Dan Carlin Sr.	....	supervising music editor
Robert Fernandez	....	scoring mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
Gary Foster	....	production assistant: David Foster
Carol Green	....	unit publicist

Production Companies

• David Foster Productions
• Turman-Foster Company (as A Turman-Foster Company Production)

Distributors

• Orion Pictures Corporation (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• LK-TEL Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Orion Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Roadshow Home Video (19??) (Australia) (VHS)

Other Companies

• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints by (as DeLuxe)
• PMK Public Relations  publicity
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Sprocket Systems  post-production services
• Sunrise Catering  catering
• Sunrise Films  negative cutting
• Unique Casting  casting: Miami
• Whitehall Security Corporation  security

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1985) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #27614) | West Germany:16 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Dade County, Florida, USA

Company:

David Foster Productions

Trivia:

The actual City of Miami Police Department's SWAT Team appeared in the movie as the City of Miami Police Department's SWAT Team in a scene where Kurt Russell's character enters the house of a victim. Many interiors were also filmed inside the City of Miami Police Department Headquarters.

Goofs:

Continuity: Malcolm Anderson has a heated exchange with the two police detectives at their office. In the middle of it he whips off his glasses but in the next shot he is still wearing them.

Quotes:

Christine: I've gotten so far away that leaving is just a formality, Malcolm.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Psycho (1960)

Cliché's R Us.

This flick will pass the time, and Kurt Russle is always interesting to watch, but JEEEZ is this one clichéd. Every standard suspense element is there:

1: Several scenes where you think the killer is coming, big scary music, then it turns out to be someone else. Ooooh, I'm soooo scared!

(spoilers ahead, I guess)

2: the good guys girlfriend ends up s the final target. gee, never woulda' thought of THAT....

3: Oh heck, why waste time listing them all. I have already taken more time with this review than the production team took making the movie.

The score is absolutely hilarious. It goes from nothing, to Hitchcock-on-steroids about fifty times. Might as well have a narrator shouting "here comes something scary! hear comes something scary!"

Russel and Garcia manage to come off OK despite the hackneyed script. However, Mariel Hemmingway makes a fool of herself with her overacting in the end. Well, at least she shows her tits in the requisite, early shower scene (gotta' get that "R" rating, after all.) Big woop.

I can't say I'm surprised that Phillip Borsos only directed two more films after this one.

Don't go out of your way to watch this, though as I said, it WILL pass the time. I've seen MUCH worse.