''The January Man'' is a 1989 American

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

film directed by Pat O'Connor from a screenplay by

John Patrick Shanley John Patrick Shanley (born October 13, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film ''Moonstruck''. His play, '' Doubt: A Parable'', won the 2005 Pulitzer Pri ...

. The film stars

Kevin Kline Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an American actor. In a career spanning over five decades, he has become a prominent leading man across both Kevin Kline on screen and stage, stage and screen. List of awards and nominations recei ...

as Nick Starkey, a smart ex-NYPD detective who is lured back into service by his police commissioner brother (

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor and film producer, known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running associatio ...

) when a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

terrorizes the city. Nick becomes involved with the mayor's daughter (

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (born November 17, 1958) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in the 1980 revival of ''West Side Story'', and went on to appear in the 1983 film '' Scarface'' as Al Pacino's character's si ...

) and is aided in his investigation by his neighbor, Ed, an artist (

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...

Plot

On New Year's Eve,

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

socialite Alison Hawkins returns home from the evening's festivities. As she feeds her fish before going to bed, a killer uses a blue ribbon to strangle her to death. It is the latest murder by a

who has been terrorizing the city for eleven months. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, frustrated with the lack of progress in the case, tells

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

commissioner Frank Starkey to bring in his brother, former detective Nick Starkey. This is a controversial decision, as Nick left the force in disgrace two years earlier but may be the only police officer brilliant enough to capture the killer. Frank talks Nick into returning, but only on the condition that he be able to cook dinner the next night for Frank's wife, Christine, who is Nick's ex-girlfriend. After a press conference announcing Nick's reinstatement, Christine and Nick have dinner. Old wounds are opened, including mention of a canceled check which indicated that Frank was involved in the scandal that got Nick fired. After reporting for work, Nick takes a different office than the one he was assigned because the light was not to the liking of his friend Ed, a painter. After getting Captain Alcoa to add Ed to the payroll as his assistant, Nick begins work on the case. His first lead is to speak to the mayor's daughter, Bernadette, who was a friend of Alison. After Nick and Bernadette visit Alison's apartment, he decides to let her stay at his apartment because she is too frightened to return to her own. Nick realizes that the previous murders occurred on dates that are

prime number A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a Product (mathematics), product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime ...

s, all of which are among the twelve prime numbers possible up to the number 31. Because 5 is the only one of the prime numbers that has not been used, Nick deduces that the next murder will take place the following night, on the fifth of the month. However, Nick is seemingly proven wrong when a woman is strangled one day ahead of Nick's prediction, after which the killer leaps out the window to his death. Nick believes that this is a copycat killing, especially when he learns that the man broke a window, as opposed to picking a lock to gain entrance as in the other murders. Frank and the mayor consider the case closed and are content to be done with Nick. Nick and Ed discover the position of the victims' buildings, when seen on a map of Manhattan, forms the constellation

Virgo Virgo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Virgo (film), a 1970 Egyptian film * Virgo (character), several Marvel Comics characters * Virgo Asmita, a character in the manga ''Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas'' * ''Virgo'' (album), by Virgo Four, ...

. They also realize that all the rooms in which the murders took place have windows on the front of the building, and that when the exterior positions of the windows are lined up together according to which floor they are on, they correlate to eleven notes in the chorus of the song " Calendar Girl". This enables them to identify where the killer will next strike. Nick sets a trap with Bernadette as bait, outfitting her with a neck guard to prevent the killer from strangling her. The trio stakes out the room in a supply closet and witness the killer picking the lock to get into the apartment. They intercept the apartment's resident and send Bernadette in, where she is attacked. Nick breaks in and, after a prolonged struggle with the killer, subdues him. He then wraps up the suspect in a carpet and delivers him to the police. Christine arrives and tells Nick she's broken up with Frank and hopes to reconcile. He rejects her in favor of a relationship with Bernadette.

Cast

as Lt. Nick Starkey *

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

as Christine Starkey *

as Bernadette Flynn *

as Commissioner Frank Starkey *

Danny Aiello Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. () (June 20, 1933 – December 12, 2019) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous motion pictures, including ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974), ''The Front'' (1976), ''Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), ''Hide in ...

as Capt. Vincent Alcoa *

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger ( ; April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associ ...

as Mayor Eamon Flynn *

as Ed *

Faye Grant Faye Grant (born July 16, 1957) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Julie Parrish in NBC's science fiction series '' V'' between 1983 and 1985. Early life Grant was born in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. Her father was a pol ...

as Alison Hawkins *

Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Clifford Welsh, (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022) was a Canadian actor, who made over 300 stage, film, and television appearances over a nearly 60-year career. Educated at the National Theatre School, he was a member of the Stratford S ...

as Roger Culver *

Bruce MacVittie Bruce James MacVittie (October 14, 1956 – May 7, 2022) was an American actor. He was known for playing Danny Scalercio in the fourth season of ''The Sopranos'', Mickey Mack in ''Million Dollar Baby'', and Detective Eastman in '' Lonely Hearts'' ...

as Rip *

Bill Cobbs Wilbert Alexander Cobbs (June 16, 1934 – June 25, 2024) was an American actor, known for such film roles as Louisiana Slim in '' The Hitter'' (1979), Walter in '' The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), Reginald in ''Night at the Museum' ...

as Detective Reilly *

Gerard Parkes Gerard Parkes (October 16, 1924 – October 19, 2014) was an Irish-Canadian actor. He was born in Dublin and moved to Toronto in 1956. He is known for playing Doc on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television series ''Fraggle Rock'' and ...

as Reverend Drew *

Malachy McCourt Malachy Gerard McCourt (September 20, 1931 – March 11, 2024) was an American-Irish actor, writer and politician. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Limerick, McCourt appeared in several films and soap operas, including ''The Molly Maguires'', ' ...

as Hob *

Colin Mochrie Colin Andrew Mochrie (; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and American versions of the improvisational TV show ''Whose Line ...

as Pat

Reception

The movie received negative reviews from critics.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'', wrote: "''The January Man'' is worth study as a film that fails to find its tone. It's all over the map. It wants to be zany but violent, satirical but slapstick, romantic but cynical. It wants some of its actors to rant and rave like amateur tragedians, and others to reach for subtle nuances. And it wants all of these things to happen at the same time." Rita Kempley of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' was even more harsh, writing, "

Eliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...

called April the cruelest month, but then he hadn't seen ''The January Man''. Billed as a mystery with romance and comedy, it is a damp sock of a movie that makes you wish for a leap year." It holds a 28% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

from 18 reviews. The film's box-office gross in the United States and Canada was $4,611,062. The film's 1989 US video release generated a further $7 million.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:January Man, The 1989 films 1980s police comedy films American comedy thriller films 1989 crime thriller films American serial killer films 1980s comedy thriller films American police detective films Films set in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Pat O'Connor Films scored by Marvin Hamlisch Films with screenplays by John Patrick Shanley 1989 comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Films produced by Norman Jewison English-language crime comedy films English-language crime thriller films English-language comedy thriller films