Great Film overall

A different way of telling a story

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

At film's beginning Alison Hawkins (Faye Grant) and friend Bernadette Flynn (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) carouse during the New Year's Eve celebration (there is an undertone of lesbianism). After Alison is dropped off in her NY apartment, she is strangled by a maniac who managed to enter her residence. The newspapers scream that she is the eleventh victim. Mayor Eamon Flynn (Rod Steiger), orders police commissioner Frank Starkey (Harvey Keitel) to get his brother Nick (Kevin Kline) back on the police force to solve the crime. Nick, who is a little quirky, is a fireman, but when he was a cop he excelled in special investigation. Years earlier he was removed from the force for a graft scandal, but actually took a bribery hit for Frank. He agrees to return to the force. Police captain Vincent Alcoa (Danny Aiello), though, is not amused to see Nick return. Nevertheless, after a shouting match with the bellicose mayor, he is forced to concede. Brothers Frank and Nick do not get along well. Before Frank married Christine (Susan Sarandon), she was Nick's girlfriend. Like the mayor and police chief, they argue. Nick soon becomes romantically involved with the mayor's daughter, Bernadette Flynn. At work the unorthodox Nick, who has a penchant for solving difficult situations, begins to put pieces together. Helping him investigate the case is his friend and neighbor, Ed (Alan Rickman). Ed, who paints nudes, is a computer guru who helps analyze when the murderer is going to strike next. Nick had already known that the strangler is clever and knows how to pick locks. Nick assembles the dates of the murders on his computer screen and then begins to analyze incredibly complex clues. He asks a fellow policeman what a prime number is. When the cop cannot answer Nick responds, "Any number that can only be divided by one and itself." He might have added, "without leaving a remainder" (above 2 the prime numbers are obviously odd). Nick, figuring out the days of the murders, is quite certain that the date of the next murder will be the fifth of January (the killer strikes monthly). Looking at the arrangement of the building locations of the various murders, Nick figures the constellation sign Virgo to locate the actual building (the killer strikes only at high rises). The strangler must be a computer whiz. The musical notes of Neil Sedaka's old song "Calendar Girl" play into it. Then Nick figures the actual apartment. A trap is set. The movie, produced by Norman Jewison, and directed by Pat O'Connor, doesn't really work as a crime-erotic/romance-comedy. For one thing, inserting slapstick comedy elements into the denouement is ridiculous because the situation is supposed to be serious. Then there is the casting. Now these are all accomplished actors, but they are done in by the uneven mood and convoluted script by John Patrick Shanley, which leaves some questions unanswered (like the scandal). Keitel often frowns while Steiger often yells. Steiger overacts in his screaming confrontation with Aiello. Kevin Kline and Harvey Keitel are not especially convincing as brothers. Furthermore, they are like a Mutt and Jeff pair with Kline (6'2") towering over Keitel (5'7"). Ms. Mastrantonio, a handsome woman, looks nothing like a Flynn. Her performance is worthy, though, as is that of Alan Rickman. There is just a slight resonance of mystery. The killer's identity is merely a backdrop ("He's a nobody.") while Kline's ingenious solution is implausible. The veteran actors and plot will generate some interest, although the New York City locations are not really used to good advantage except for the large apartment buildings necessary to make the situations work.

It's New Year's Eve in NYC. Manhattan socialite Alison Hawkins is killed by a serial killer in her apartment as his 11th victim. Her best friend Bernadette Flynn (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) just dropped her off and just happens to be the mayor's daughter. Police commissioner Frank Starkey (Harvey Keitel) is under heavy pressure and Mayor Flynn (Rod Steiger) forces him to get his brother Nick Starkey (Kevin Kline). Nick was expelled from the force in disgraced two years ago and is now a hero firefighter. Frank's wife Christine (Susan Sarandon) is Nick's ex-girlfriend. Capt. Vincent Alcoa (Danny Aiello) hates the idea. Ed (Alan Rickman) is Nick's wacky artistic neighbor.The tone is all over the place. I wonder if the movie realizes that it's trying to make funny jokes in the middle of a serial killer movie. The problem is that the jokes are so wildly uncontrolled that it wouldn't be funny anyways. Everybody seems to be in their own separate movies. Aiello and Steiger are screaming. Kline and Rickman are wacky. Kline and Sarandon are doing a weird melodrama. Keitel is simply trying to survive the mess. Mastrantonio is in a different movie aka the serious serial killer movie and she's no 23. The switches in tone gave me whiplash. The final chase is way too wacky. The killer is doing blackface with white shinny gloves. They turn it into a farce and any chance the movie had goes away.

With an impressive cast, I expected much more. I was a bit of a fan of Kevin Cline and I was amazed at how bad his acting was in this. I sometimes wonder if this movie was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek parody because none of the characters are believable. Cline was so unbelievable in his character that the movie becomes un- watchable at times. The character he was portraying was also too much of a stretch. The character was maybe too "complex" in that he was trying to be too many things at once and none of it meshed.I can't tell if this was supposed to be a "serious" role for Cline. His "New York" accent is so bad.

The only superlative about this movie is Rod Steiger's role. This is by far, the worst role he ever played, totally overdone every time he is on the screen with a hairdo modeled on Harpo Marx and the expository style of Hitler. Danny Aielo gets short shrift from the screen writer and Harvey Keitel gets used and thrown away. Kevin Kline has a bizarre accent, strange affect and a great ability to suppress the laughs he must be feeling at the dialog he was asked to say. Alan Rickman was cute and extraneous, Susan Sarandon was there and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has large and attractive boobs for a small woman - she didn't have much of anything else to do in this film.Plot - stupid, ridiculous, complex and extraneous.