Jan 31st  
The January Man*  
(US 1989)  
MGM-UA/Star Partners II. 97m. 

A former police detective is grudgingly reinstated to solve the mystery of a New York serial strangler.
Droll murder mystery with a heavyweight cast; it goes for The Thin Man-style light touch combined with hard-edged investigative drama, but any interest in the latter is left high and dry.

Written by: John Patrick Shanley.
Producers: Norman Jewison, Ezra Swerdlow.
Director: Pat O'Connor.
Starring: Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Keitel, Rod Steiger, Danny Aiello, Alan Rickman, Faye Grant, Bill Cobbs, Colin Mochrie.
Photography: Jerzy Zielinski.
Music: Marvin Hamlisch.

 

THE JANUARY MAN. Rod Steiger's later career seemed to involve films that could barely contain him, whilst Harvey Keitel and Danny Aiello adopt the more subtle approach. The dangling corpse they (and Kevin Kline) are looking at, is believe it or not, played by Whose Line is it Anyway?'s Colin Mochrie.