Review of The January Man (1989) by Nefert M — 16 Feb 2005

[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]Well, last night I took in a double-feature of sorts. When I went to Wal-Mart on saturday, I raided the cheap DVD bins and came out a winner with some $5.50 Alan Rickman! Don't look at me that way--my friend Beth bought [i]Shanghai Surprise[/i]--arguably one of the worst films ever. I on the other hand acquired [i]The January Man[/i] for my home DVD collection.[/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]It is this weird mixture of thriller and comedy--it really can't figure out what exactly it wants to be. Kevin Kline is Nicholas Starkey, an oddball former cop that gets called back to the force after a serial killer strangles 11 women in New York City. For such a great array of actors like Harvey Keitel, Susan Sarandon, Mary-Elizabeth Mastorantonio, Danny Aiello, Rod Steiger and of course--Alan Rickman; only about three of those are used sucessfully besides Kevin Kline.[/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]Alan Rickman plays Nick Starkey's best friend--Ed the painter, who is an eccentric artist and part-time computer wiz. Mary-Elizabeth Mastorantonio is the party-girl daughter of the city's mayor who's best friend is killed during the opening frames while Danny Aiello is the police captain that yells a lot. Other than those three and Kevin Kline, I am not sure why any of the others were in the movie. They could've been replaced with Joe Schmoe on the street.[/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]The film also comes complete with cheesy late 80's soundtrack that was so predominant at the time. After [i]The January Man, [/i]I went to go see an advanced screening of [i]Constantine. [/i]I usually get a little worried at advanced screenings, because more often than not the movie sucks. But I have to say, this film wasn't terrible--but growing up in the Bible-belt, I know that the religious right will have a field day with it. [/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]Mostly the part about God and the Devil's bargain, the Devil having a son, and the half-breeds who could be part-demon or part angel being used to tip the scales of the balance. The film had a plot--almost too much of one. It left my head spinning sometimes with all of the information and twists and an over-abundance of CGI.[/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) grew up as a kid who could see such half-breeds and was driven to the point of madness that he committed suicide when he was 15. Technically, he was only dead for 2 minutes before he was brought back by doctors and has been condemned to hell for the act. So, he preforms exorcisms to try and buy his way into heaven.[/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]Rachel Weisz is Angela Dodson, a cop whose twin sister Isabelle comitted suicide after a stint at an asylum. Being a strict Catholic, she does not believe that she took her own life and that she was murdered. She seeks out Constantine to help her with the case. What ensues is very complex.[/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]All I know is that I liked the way Keanu Reeves played the character--even though the story line was a little much. It was also interesting to see actors like Djimon Hounsou playing a shaman who runs this wacked-out bar, Tilda Swinton as the angel Gabriel with the androgyny of early David Bowie and Gavin Rossdale (yes, that's right--Mr. Gwen Stefani-"Everything Zen" himself) as the demon half-breed Balthazar.[/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]I also enjoy seeing Shia LaBeouf in films. He cracked me up when he said that when his name is translated into Yiddish and French as "Thank God for the Beef" when he was on Leno promoting [i]Project Greenlight 2[/i]. :) [/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]Anyways, I'll be renting more movies tonight and I will fight the good fight to go and see [i]Sideways[/i] this weekend. So I'll write back soon.[/color][/font].

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[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]Laters![/color][/font].

[font=Franklin Gothic Medium][color=lightblue]Courtney[/color][/font].