The January Man (1989)

21% of critics liked it
(14 reviews)
30% of users liked it
(3,476 ratings)

This offbeat police thriller with heavy doses of humor was written by John Patrick Shanley, the former playwright who wrote Cher's hit romantic comedy Moonstruck. Kevin Kline stars as Nick Starkey, a brilliant former New York City police detective who has been exiled to the fire department because… More This offbeat police thriller with heavy doses of humor was written by John Patrick Shanley, the former playwright who wrote Cher's hit romantic comedy Moonstruck. Kevin Kline stars as Nick Starkey, a brilliant former New York City police detective who has been exiled to the fire department because of his unorthodox ways. He's called back to service by his police commissioner brother Frank (Harvey Keitel) in the hopes that he can find a bizarre serial killer who's been murdering one woman a month. Nick's condition to agreeing to help is that he gets to cook dinner for Frank and his snooty wife Christine (Susan Sarandon), a former girlfriend of his. Ultimately, Nick uses his Zen-like intuition and some high-tech computer hardware (with prominent product placement plugs) to find the killer, pausing to have an affair with the mayor's beautiful daughter Bernadette (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. In the improbable conclusion, Nick figures out the exact day the killer will strike and the exact apartment! January Man is too tongue-in-cheek to be taken seriously as a thriller. In addition to Keitel and Sarandon the stellar supporting cast includes Rod Steiger as the mayor and Danny Aiello as a tough police captain who rails against Nick's "beatnik" ways. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Pat O'Connor
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 13, 1989 Wide
On DVD: Apr 16, 2002
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Fred Topel, About.com
good mystery
Bob Bloom, rec.arts.movies.reviews
A strange suspense thriller that is uninvolving.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

I re-watched this recently, and I just had to lower my rating for it, it's worse than I remembered it. The story is predictable, cliched, and none of the characters are very interesting, especially the main guy played by Kline, who can't act. The rest of the cast is good,… More
I re-watched this recently, and I just had to lower my rating for it, it's worse than I remembered it. The story is predictable, cliched, and none of the characters are very interesting, especially the main guy played by Kline, who can't act. The rest of the cast is good, but they don't get a good script to work with. I did not like this movie.
Randy T

Wretched writing and poorly directed. I can give you six good reasons why this film should have been a hell of a lot better: Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Keitel, Danny Aiello, Rod Steiger and Alan Rickman.
Sunil J

Another overdone serial killer movie.
Stefan P

One of the most uneven films I've seen in recent years. The cast and acting is amazing, the story interesting and a few scenes are fantastic. Then, when you least expect it, comes the scene where everything is flawed and you wonder if it's the same movie, or the same… More
One of the most uneven films I've seen in recent years. The cast and acting is amazing, the story interesting and a few scenes are fantastic. Then, when you least expect it, comes the scene where everything is flawed and you wonder if it's the same movie, or the same director. Many scenes are 5/5 stars and several scenes are 0/5. I did like it so the grade still represents a film that is both watchable and recommended.
Christopher B

Alright thriller, but no where near a great one.

Cast

            Kevin Kline as Nick Starkey

            Susan Sarandon as Christine Starkey

            Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Bernadette Flynn

            Harvey Keitel as Frank Starkey

            Danny Aiello as Capt. Vincent Alcoa

            Rod Steiger as Mayor Eamon Flynn

            Alan Rickman as Ed

            Faye Grant as Alison Hawkins

            Jayne Haynes as Alma

            Brian Tarantina as Cone

            Bruce MacVittie as Rip

            Bill Cobbs as Detective Reilly

            Greg Walker as January Man

            Tandy Cronyn as Lena

            Gerard Parkes as Rev. Drew

            Errol Slue as Chief Sunday

            Warren Davis as Bill

            Malachy McCourt as Hob

            Billie Neal as Gwen

            Lázaro Pérez as Ramon

            Jerry Rector as Newscaster-Reporter

            Grant Shaud as Newscaster-Reporter

            Kenneth Welsh as Roger Culver

            Max Raven as Dective Robbins

            Joan Heney as Claire

            William Christian as Tim

            Bill Cwikowski as Press Representative

            Paul Geier as Detective Muse

            Elizabeth Karr as Newscaster-Reporter

            James Mainprize as Harry

            Katherine E. Miller as Olympia

            Colin Mochrie as Pat

            Majda Rogerson as Mildred

            Jane Sanders as Mia

            Ann Talman as Sarah

            J.B. Waters as Police Officer

            Richard Johnson as Newscaster-Reporter

            James Ryan as Newscaster-Reporter
See full cast

The January Man (1989)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

Randy T

Sunil J

Stefan P

Christopher B

Cast

Trailers & Clips