The Mean Season **** (1985, Kurt Russell, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Jordan, Richard Masur, Richard Bradford, Joe Pantoliano, Andy Garcia) – Classic Movie Review 7,652

Phillip Borsos’s 1985 American neo noir thriller film The Mean Season is a gripping, powerful, atmospheric crime thriller with an excellent role for Kurt Russell as a Miami newspaper reporter used as a public mouthpiece by a psychotic serial killer.

Director Phillip Borsos’s 1985 American neo noir thriller film The Mean Season is a gripping, powerful, atmospheric crime thriller with an excellent role for Kurt Russell as Malcolm Anderson, the burned-out Miami newspaper reporter used as a public mouthpiece by a psychotic killer from his latest article, who phones him to say he is going to kill again.

Mariel Hemingway plays the hero’s school teacher girlfriend Christine Connelly, whom he has promised they will leave Miami, where there is too much heat of one kind or another.

Based on John Katzenbach’s 1982 novel In the Heat of the Summer, the haywire plotting veers off track at times, but the humid Florida settings, the strong central characters, the stalwart acting, Lalo Schifrin’s score, and the taut direction by Borsos comfortably keep the film on course, excitingly.

Also in the cast are Richard Jordan, Richard Masur, Richard Bradford, Joe Pantoliano, Andy Garcia, Rose Portillo, and William Smith.

The title refers to the pattern of weather that occurs in Florida during the late summer months. Every day for a month, hot mornings lead into violent thunderstorms and even hotter evenings. 

The screenplay is written by Christopher Crowe under the pseudonym Leon Piedmont.

It was released on 15 February 1985 and grossed only $4.3 million in North America against a budget of $10 million.

The City of Miami Police Department’s SWAT team appear when Kurt Russell enters a victim’s house. Interiors were filmed inside the City of Miami Police Department Headquarters and the Richard E Gerstein Criminal Justice Building.

American author John Katzenbach (born June 23, 1950) worked as a criminal court reporter for the Miami Herald and Miami News.

The Mean Season is directed by Phillip Borsos, runs 103 minutes, is made by David Foster Productions and the Turman-Foster Company, released by Orion Pictures, is written by Christopher Crowe [Leon Piedmont], based on John Katzenbach’s novel In the Heat of the Summer, is shot by Frank Tidy, is produced by Larry Turman and David Foster, is scored by Lalo Schifrin, and is designed by Philip Jefferies.

The cast

The cast are Kurt Russell as Malcolm Anderson, Mariel Hemingway as Christine Connelly, Richard Jordan as Alan Delour, Richard Masur as Bill Nolan, Richard Bradford as Phil Wilson, Joe Pantoliano as Andy Porter, Andy García as Ray Martinez, William Smith as Albert O’Shaughnessy and Rose Portillo as Kathy Vasquez.

Phillip Borsos (May 5, 1953 – February 2, 1995) 

Australian-born Canadian film director Phillip Borsos died of leukaemia on 2 February 1995 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, aged 41. He made his feature debut The Grey Fox in 1982, at the age of 27. 

He made only five films: The Grey Fox (1982), The Mean Season (1985), One Magic Christmas (1985), Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990), Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,652

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