January Man reeks of cliche and coincidence. It features a twist-less plot that can be seen on every procedural cop show. And even though it’s billed as a comedy, it’s not funny. At all. In any way. There aren’t even any jokes. They just billed it as a comedy because they didn’t know what else to do.
I love January Man.
First Kevin Kline stars in this bad boy, and Kevin Kline is awesome (though you should know I never saw The Emperor’s Club).
Second in addition to Kline the film features a pissed off Harvey Keitel who says things like, “Why don’t you just fucking die” in a way that makes you kinda want to die. Susan Sarandon and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are note perfect (and adorably hot each in their own way) as competing love interest. Danny Aiello literally screams through the whole movie. And Allan Rickman shows up as an indigent artists who makes weird manakin installations of naked women and kittens –I swear I’m not making that up.
Third while the plot is recycled the dialogue is great. Really great. It’s snappy, endearing, charming.
But mostly what I like most about January Man is it’s Victorian Ideals. You see January Man is about the necessity of good. It takes good to fight evil. In the age of anti-heros where the only requirement for being a good guy is to be better than the guy standing next to you, it is a refreshing notion. All the characters with singed hearts who compromise their ideals for selfish reasons fail. They can’t negotiate with an irrational violent force. But Nick Starkey (Kline) is noble to a fault. He is a knight without armor in a savage land. And he is the only one who can defeat true darkness.
It’s quaint. But it’s good.
January Man 1.8.