Comedy? Thriller? Suspense? I guess that these are all words or genres that you could use to describe this film. I would use these words if I wanted to gloss over the true feeling of this film. I would use these words if I had to sell this wallow-some film to a distributor who didn't know any better. I would use these words lightly, because if I ever believed them the battle would be forever lost. This was not a comedy. It was not a thriller. It definitely was not a suspense. So, what was it? After viewing this film I came to the conclusion that The January Man reminded me of a puzzle put together by a two-year-old. While all the pieces were in the box to put together, sadly the infant size brain of the child chose to smash the pieces together instead of place them in corresponding orders. Thus, you have a jumbled mess with wedged pieces of what could have been an overall beautiful picture. With poor acting, a confusing plot that literally went nowhere and an ending that felt forced and premature, one can see that this puzzle is unfixable by even the best puzzler in the world. If I were those involved with the creation, I would definitely be ashamed.
To begin, what was wrong with the actors? Nobody seemed like they were giving 10% much less 50% of their effort for this film. Even the great ones like Keitel, Kline, and Sarandon felt like they were walking through the motions with equally confused eyes and hearts. Kline's New York accent faded in and out throughout the film giving us no glimpse of his actual character. His role was never fully defined, so the other half of the time that we watch him on screen we just don't care about him at all. This was one of the worst leading characters of all time. Thankfully, a completely miscast team that seemed more interested in the money than actually "acting" backs him up. Keitel was horrible in this film. I am a huge fan of his body of work, but in this one he walked, talked, and gave those emotionless eyes a rest. He provided nothing of value to this production. The same can be said about Sarandon, whose character seemed unfocused and undervalued, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who never really got her feet wet in Hollywood until Maid Marion arrived at her doorstep. Alan Rickman was wasted, as well as the one-leveled voices of Danny Aiello and Rod Steiger whose only direction from Pat O'Conner was to yell. In other words, if you are interested in seeing this film for the acting, you will be greatly disappointed.
Second, perhaps the acting can be overlooked by a strong story line? WRONG! This was the most convoluted script that I have ever seen Hollywood produce. We spend the first forty minutes learning about an event that happened two years ago that is never fully explained anyway. It reminded of those times that the teacher would say in class that we should all listen up because this wasn't going to be on the test. Then why bother. This set the spiraling downfall for the rest of the film. This unavailable information also lead to some pretty choppy chemistry between the actors. I never say Kline and Keitel as brothers. I never saw the relationship with Sarandon possible. In fact, now that I think about it, I didn't see any of the actors meshing well together because they were working with a script that was focused on all the wrong parts. Eventually, The January Man gets so caught up on this secondary story that we find ourselves rushed into an ending and a solution that seems laughable instead of plausible. We even have a villain that is so confusing that I don't even think he knew what he was doing in the film. The final thirty minutes of this film were the worst parts of this movie, second to all the parts before that. Whoever wrote this script must have just forgotten the basic rules of storytelling because nothing meshed well at all.
Finally, I would have to comment that the marketing for this film could feel like a cheated ticket to some film goers. After reading some reviews for this film, I was expecting to find myself chuckling out loud at the antics of Kevin Kline and his spin on the world of investigation. I was wrong. There was no humor in this film at all. Even when O'Conner tried to bring some in, it seemed forced and unhealthy. I must repeat, this is not a comedy. It even isn't really that suspenseful, nor is the thrilling aspect actually that thrilling. I must admit that whomever sold this film to a company under the guise that it was a comedy should be awarded the "Best Salesman of the Decade" award. Somebody believed this film was funny and even pasted a preview to it with the word "comedy" written all over it. Someone sold the company a broken product hook, line, and sinker. I just ask you to beware.
Overall, this film was horrible. From the poor acting, the cryptic story that needed some form of decoder ring to understand, the passionless actors, to the harshly branded word "comedy", January Man proves that not all films should be made and that an advanced screen process should be used regularly. I genuinely encourage you to skip this film. No good will come of you watching this mess. I promise.
Grade: * out of *****
To begin, what was wrong with the actors? Nobody seemed like they were giving 10% much less 50% of their effort for this film. Even the great ones like Keitel, Kline, and Sarandon felt like they were walking through the motions with equally confused eyes and hearts. Kline's New York accent faded in and out throughout the film giving us no glimpse of his actual character. His role was never fully defined, so the other half of the time that we watch him on screen we just don't care about him at all. This was one of the worst leading characters of all time. Thankfully, a completely miscast team that seemed more interested in the money than actually "acting" backs him up. Keitel was horrible in this film. I am a huge fan of his body of work, but in this one he walked, talked, and gave those emotionless eyes a rest. He provided nothing of value to this production. The same can be said about Sarandon, whose character seemed unfocused and undervalued, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who never really got her feet wet in Hollywood until Maid Marion arrived at her doorstep. Alan Rickman was wasted, as well as the one-leveled voices of Danny Aiello and Rod Steiger whose only direction from Pat O'Conner was to yell. In other words, if you are interested in seeing this film for the acting, you will be greatly disappointed.
Second, perhaps the acting can be overlooked by a strong story line? WRONG! This was the most convoluted script that I have ever seen Hollywood produce. We spend the first forty minutes learning about an event that happened two years ago that is never fully explained anyway. It reminded of those times that the teacher would say in class that we should all listen up because this wasn't going to be on the test. Then why bother. This set the spiraling downfall for the rest of the film. This unavailable information also lead to some pretty choppy chemistry between the actors. I never say Kline and Keitel as brothers. I never saw the relationship with Sarandon possible. In fact, now that I think about it, I didn't see any of the actors meshing well together because they were working with a script that was focused on all the wrong parts. Eventually, The January Man gets so caught up on this secondary story that we find ourselves rushed into an ending and a solution that seems laughable instead of plausible. We even have a villain that is so confusing that I don't even think he knew what he was doing in the film. The final thirty minutes of this film were the worst parts of this movie, second to all the parts before that. Whoever wrote this script must have just forgotten the basic rules of storytelling because nothing meshed well at all.
Finally, I would have to comment that the marketing for this film could feel like a cheated ticket to some film goers. After reading some reviews for this film, I was expecting to find myself chuckling out loud at the antics of Kevin Kline and his spin on the world of investigation. I was wrong. There was no humor in this film at all. Even when O'Conner tried to bring some in, it seemed forced and unhealthy. I must repeat, this is not a comedy. It even isn't really that suspenseful, nor is the thrilling aspect actually that thrilling. I must admit that whomever sold this film to a company under the guise that it was a comedy should be awarded the "Best Salesman of the Decade" award. Somebody believed this film was funny and even pasted a preview to it with the word "comedy" written all over it. Someone sold the company a broken product hook, line, and sinker. I just ask you to beware.
Overall, this film was horrible. From the poor acting, the cryptic story that needed some form of decoder ring to understand, the passionless actors, to the harshly branded word "comedy", January Man proves that not all films should be made and that an advanced screen process should be used regularly. I genuinely encourage you to skip this film. No good will come of you watching this mess. I promise.
Grade: * out of *****