The Mean Season (non horror view)

While watching that damned Bundy doc on Netflix, the chapters on Florida and his murders reminded me of this 1985 serial killer newspaper thriller set in hot, sunny-and-rainy Miami, with Russell getting to really flex some dramatic muscles as Richard Jordan's maniac takes a shine to his way with words in the Journal he works headline for.

There's a real creepy scene where Russell actually meets Jordan, unaware he's actually the killer, told he was this person with particular information, speaking with a lisp, sweaty, trash teeth, a trailer disheveled and full of dirty dishes with nude pictures on the wall. Russell failing to realize he had the killer, failing to help the police. The recording left behind to further tease him. And then Jordan threatens Muriel Hemingway, his fiance. Jordan definitely makes the skin crawl. Yeah, the film goes towards generic thriller territory with the reporter's girlfriend in danger by the killer who feels he was getting too much exposure and press instead of him. There's even the big chase, Russell trying to get to Muriel as Jordan targets her. The kidnapping, concern about her welfare, the eventual confrontation, and inevitable reporter and killer encounter to determine the outcome.

The film's setting is a big reason I dig this. Russell as the reporter, Jordan as the disgusting killer, and a fun cast surrounding the action. I do wish the film had more punch, style, and pizazz. The location shooting really gives the film a real feeling of time and place. The pursuit that drags Malcolm's Christine into the mess, how he really tires of the murder reporting, how Malcolm wants to just get away from Miami, how Malcolm wants Christine safe and away from Jordan's killer, and the stormy Glades search for Christine...these beats do work for me. It does sort of go the predictable route, though. The murders themselves are what you expect from a thriller, though, this is about reporter and killer going at it psychologically in a mental game.

The cast is a blast: Andy Garcia and Richard Bradford as the detectives trying to catch the killer (Garcia is Russell's friend while Bradford has plenty of tense back-and-forth issues with him), Pantoliano as Russell's photographer, William Smith as a former acquaintance of Jordan's, and Richard Masur as Russell's editor at the paper never wanting him to leave.

I wish Hemingway's part was cast with someone else...I've never that big a fan of hers. I wish the ending just wasn't so predictable. But the storm at the end really is atmospheric. The story is just so damned formulaic, too.