Alan Rickman: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Ed - The January Man

Sometimes, as in Dogma, throwing lots of weird stuff together makes for a fascinating and enjoyably off-the-wall movie. Other times, it makes for something as plainly and simply dumb as 1989's The January Man.

A peculiar mix of generic police procedural and broad comedy, it casts Kevin Kline in the lead as the cop on the trail of a serial killer with a ridiculously complex and specific pattern which somehow manages to incorporate prime numbers, star charts, calendars and old show tunes. Rickman co-stars as his comic relief roommate, a predictably quirky and wine-sozzled artist, who conveniently proves a dab hand at computers which aids Kline's investigation in an improbable way (not that anything about the film is especially probable).

Rickman isn't given much to do beyond standing in Kline's shadow, and despite the obvious talents of both men (not to mention Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, with whom Rickman who reunite two years later in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), it just doesn't work at all. Roger Ebert might have been a tad harsh in declaring it "one of the worst movies of all time," but it certainly isn't very good.