Mystic River

Rating

Director

Clint Eastwood

Screenplay

Brian Helgeland (Novel: Dennis Lahane)

Length

137 min.

Starring

Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Kevin Chapman, Adam Nelson, Emmy Rossum, Tom Guiry

MPAA Rating

R (For language and violence)

Review

Three childhood friends have their adult relationship tested when a mysterious death grips their communities in Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River.

Sean Penn leads an all-star cast in a story about Jimmy Markum (Penn), Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins) and Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon). When they were young, the three of them risked everything when caught writing their names in a slab of wet cement. Dave is held for several days, abducted and raped, before escaping his captors only to suffer a lifetime of mental trauma.

Growing up in the same neighborhood, Dave continued a strained relationship with Jimmy who remained behind while Sean distanced himself from the others becoming a cop and moving out of the area. The three are brought together again when Jimmy’s daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum) turns up dead. None of them truly suspect the others for being responsible but after a number of suspicious events, the accusations start flowing.

Dave returns home one evening to his wife Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden), who is astounded to find he’s bleeding and has apparently, as Dave describes, been attacked by a mugger whom he killed in self-defense. Her suspicions are further aroused in subsequent days when no word of a mugger’s body is reported in the newspapers and Katie’s death sits heavily on her mind. Meanwhile, Jimmy and his wife Annabeth (Laura Linney) must deal with their daughter’s passing in the only way they can. Jimmy decides to gather his goon friends together and begin a search for the killer or killers. Elsewhere Sean, whose wife has run off and only calls him to say nothing into the phone and hang up, works with his partner Whitey Powers (Laurence Fishburne) to uncover the real murderer or murderers.

As director, Eastwood has given us a film filled with powerful performances. Of the six actors heading up the ensemble, Penn gives the most similar performance to those he’s played in the past. Much like his death row inmate in Dead Man Walking , Penn plays a harsh ex-convict with nothing but revenge on his mind and who knows that nothing can stand in his way. Gay Harden gives the finest of the performances as a neurotic housewife who soon begins to think her husband is psychotic. The other performances are top notch and all of them are bait for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Mystic River ‘s downfall is its weak screenplay. Brian Helgeland whose success with L.A. Confidential had blinded his fans to the fact that he also wrote976-EVIL , has brought a story that is solid in areas and foundering in others. His story is strong in parts and weak in others. He gives every character a romantic relationship when some of the characters do not need one to develop. He spends a lot of unnecessary time devoted to developing plot lines that are immaterial to the whole of the story, causing the audience to lose interest during non-critical moments.

Eastwood understands actors; after all, he’s been one for many years. However, when it comes to keeping the film tight and fluid, he misses the point. Mystic River is an extremely good film but with its few flaws, it becomes bogged down with its overabundance of information.

Mystic River is the kind of film audiences will either love or hate. Some viewers will find it incredibly engrossing and be entertained by its twists and turns. Others will discover that it yields too many questions and find that the conclusion doesn’t answer all of them. Observant filmgoers may seethe resolution long before it’s revealed but they will still find a few surprises awaiting them at the end.

Review Written

November 15, 2003