Review of Mystic River (2003) by Alex G — 05 Dec 2012

Mystic River - Clint Eastwood's brings this thrilling adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel to life and does a remarkable job recreating the events featured in the novel. The heart and dedication Mr. Eastwood put into consideration in restoring the events from the novel and at the same time provides us with well detailed characters that were the exact images like in the book.

Sean Penn plays the leading role of Jimmy Markum, a storekeeper who had a dark past as a hoodlum and was imprisoned for his misdemeanors. Years later he has cleaned up his act, makes a decent living, devoted to his wife and kids and has put his horrid past behind him. In his younger days he became allies with Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon), who is now a crime scene investigator, and David Boyle (Tim Robbins), who had experienced a devastating occurrence in his youth and the events he saw continue to linger on in his brain to this day forward. News that Jimmy's 19-year-old daughter Katie was tragically murdered, Sean along with his partner Whitey Powers (Laurence Fisburne), proceed with the investigation and the childhood friend reunion comes into full force.

When it comes to the plot itself this was where much was changed from reading the book. The trick is not to watch this as a crime-drama. Rather it's a movie about behavioral patterns, about humans. What they are capable of and what dictates their actions. There are huge amounts of sadness and melancholy to this story. Of people unable to break out of the path it seems life has chosen for them.

Too often we feel as if we are only scratching the surface of the roiling psychological torment taking place deep in the bowels of these men. The plotting, particularly towards the end, often feels more contrived than it needs to be, with heavy-handed ironies and obtruding parallelisms that don't seem to know when to leave well enough alone. Laura Linney, as Jimmy's second wife, has a key Lady Macbeth moment late in the film that might have been effective had we been more fully prepared for it and had her character been more thoroughly developed throughout the course of the film. As it is, the scene seems to come out of nowhere and leaves us both bewildered and hanging.

The dynamic cast is what makes "Mystic River" so engaging to watch and is a must-see for those who admire murder mysteries and the pivotal events that transpire along as the two detectives search for Katie's murderer. It feels like the actors are not just playing the part but are actually living the roles that were given to them. Sean Penn gives a rather heartbreaking but affectionate performance as we feel for his tragic loss. Tim Robbins was convincing in his role, you get this sudden feeling that he's about to do something not very pleasant. Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden were also effective as the respected wives of Jimmy and Dave.

The idea of filming this movie in Boston was a wise decision by Eastwood as we look to great admiration at the brilliant atmosphere created by Tom Stern which gives it a very believable and a setting that's apropos to the genre of the movie. As director, Eastwood allows his superb cast ample time to develop their characters, never hurrying the proceedings along and always allowing the conversations to play themselves out. He recognizes the quality of the material and feels no need to gussy it up with self-conscious camera angles or fancy editing. He also uses the bleak settings of blue collar Boston as an effective backdrop to the stark, chilly tale he is telling.

"Mystic River" gives a flabbergasting demonstration of how the human race reacts when they're under an overwhelming amount of mental pain. It proves that the people we hurt or the people who hurt us back will remain within us for a very long period of time, probably even forever. I like to give kudos to Clint Eastwood for making our day and giving us an eye-popping provocative picture that the vast majority will enjoy.

Review Number: 17.