kitty
02-17-2004, 09:19 PM
Mystic River
What is it about pseudo-arthouse films that can make you leaving the theatre with a definitive 'hmmmm...' in your face? Mystic River, the newest endeavour by director Clint Eastwood, is heavy, thought-provoking, and mostly just kind of depressing. I left the theatre thinking neither 'Wow, that was good', nor 'Boy, that sucked!' but really just this: 'Hmmmm....' Eastwood movies are notoriously dramatic, and this one was no exception, and it took hours for me to fully process to the end. Needless to say, in the era of 50 First Dates popcorn fluff, they don't make movies like this anymore.
Chock full of Academy Award nominations, Mystic River, set in urban Boston, follows the story of three childhood friends, Jimmy (Sean Penn), Sean (Kevin Bacon) and Dave (Tim Robbins) who are ripped apart by a terrible event, only to be later reunited, again through tragedy -- the murder of Jimmy's nineteen-year-old daughter, Katie (Emmy Rossum). By the time the friends find one another, life has taken its toll for all of them, and as the mystery of Katie's death deepens, the three men are drawn into a vortex of emotion, and even suspicion of one another.
But the movie is only superficially about Katie's death. The true tragedy of the film is the event that tore the group apart many years earlier. None of the three men have atoned for what happened so long ago, nor have they truly atoned for many of their adult sins. It is this process of punishment and forgiveness that the movie narrates, and about those who are sacrificed for the sake of forgiveness.
A movie overflowing with top-notch male actors, it's no surprise that Mystic River made it's way into both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories in this year's Oscars. Sean Penn is his usual gruff, brooding self (with the also usual moments of full-blown hysteria and hyper-emotionality). Though I am not a fan of Penn's work, in the strictest sense, his portrayal of Jimmy as a confused, vengeful father was for the most part on point (though there were some scenes that seemed to strain Penn's acting ability). Kevin Bacon delivers an almost-expected stellar performance, as he always does in his lucrative Hollywood career, as Sean, the most distant of the three friends who has since become a detective on the Boston police force. It was Tim Robbins' performance that, for me, was amazing (though I admit I am biased, since I generally am more of a fan of Robbins' work than I am of the other two actors). His portryal of Dave as the scarred shell of the man that the young boy grew into is so subtly off that we, at first, don't recognize the madness of his character. And yet, this barest touch of insanity is what drives the story's plot and character interactions.
The film's role of secondary female characters are less developed, possibly because of the need to accomodate such a large cast of actors. Laura Linney plays Jimmy's wife, Annabeth Markum, as a woman who stays mostly under the radar until a surprise character twist near the end of the movie. Marcia Gay Harden plays Celeste, Dave's troubled wife who (perhaps as a product of the character more than the actress) is mostly just grating and annoying throughout the film. The role is a difficult one to do well, but I don't think Harden managed to get it right. Another actor who stayed under the radar of the film's publicity, but probably shouldn't have, was Laurence Fishburn in the role of Whitey Powers, Sean's partner. Fishburn delivers a powerful performance that manages to wrestle some of the attention from his scenemates, proving that he is more than just Morpheus.
I sometimes find Eastwood's work a little too heavy-handed, both in the acting and the directing department. Again in this movie, there were brief moments where the film went so far, the viewer necessarily recoils beyond immersion into the movie's story. However, overall, Eastwood translates a great story to film, though I would have preferred greater inclusion and development of the female roles.
Mystic River is mind-blowing, and I'm not certain that I fully 'got it', but unfortunately much of what I think I did get I cannot discuss without giving away most of the story's surprises. Needless to say, it's very good, though it lags as time (as many arthouse films do). Occasionally, it loses energy and the pacing seems off, and I (as a critic of most endings) thought this ending went on a little too long. But there are many pleasant plot points, such as the resolution of Sean's failing marriage, that make for a great watch. There's a good reason why this movie is nominated for Best Picture, and while this film will most assuredly go over your head the first time around, it certainly is a must-see, if only for the powerhouse acting.
What is it about pseudo-arthouse films that can make you leaving the theatre with a definitive 'hmmmm...' in your face? Mystic River, the newest endeavour by director Clint Eastwood, is heavy, thought-provoking, and mostly just kind of depressing. I left the theatre thinking neither 'Wow, that was good', nor 'Boy, that sucked!' but really just this: 'Hmmmm....' Eastwood movies are notoriously dramatic, and this one was no exception, and it took hours for me to fully process to the end. Needless to say, in the era of 50 First Dates popcorn fluff, they don't make movies like this anymore.
Chock full of Academy Award nominations, Mystic River, set in urban Boston, follows the story of three childhood friends, Jimmy (Sean Penn), Sean (Kevin Bacon) and Dave (Tim Robbins) who are ripped apart by a terrible event, only to be later reunited, again through tragedy -- the murder of Jimmy's nineteen-year-old daughter, Katie (Emmy Rossum). By the time the friends find one another, life has taken its toll for all of them, and as the mystery of Katie's death deepens, the three men are drawn into a vortex of emotion, and even suspicion of one another.
But the movie is only superficially about Katie's death. The true tragedy of the film is the event that tore the group apart many years earlier. None of the three men have atoned for what happened so long ago, nor have they truly atoned for many of their adult sins. It is this process of punishment and forgiveness that the movie narrates, and about those who are sacrificed for the sake of forgiveness.
A movie overflowing with top-notch male actors, it's no surprise that Mystic River made it's way into both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories in this year's Oscars. Sean Penn is his usual gruff, brooding self (with the also usual moments of full-blown hysteria and hyper-emotionality). Though I am not a fan of Penn's work, in the strictest sense, his portrayal of Jimmy as a confused, vengeful father was for the most part on point (though there were some scenes that seemed to strain Penn's acting ability). Kevin Bacon delivers an almost-expected stellar performance, as he always does in his lucrative Hollywood career, as Sean, the most distant of the three friends who has since become a detective on the Boston police force. It was Tim Robbins' performance that, for me, was amazing (though I admit I am biased, since I generally am more of a fan of Robbins' work than I am of the other two actors). His portryal of Dave as the scarred shell of the man that the young boy grew into is so subtly off that we, at first, don't recognize the madness of his character. And yet, this barest touch of insanity is what drives the story's plot and character interactions.
The film's role of secondary female characters are less developed, possibly because of the need to accomodate such a large cast of actors. Laura Linney plays Jimmy's wife, Annabeth Markum, as a woman who stays mostly under the radar until a surprise character twist near the end of the movie. Marcia Gay Harden plays Celeste, Dave's troubled wife who (perhaps as a product of the character more than the actress) is mostly just grating and annoying throughout the film. The role is a difficult one to do well, but I don't think Harden managed to get it right. Another actor who stayed under the radar of the film's publicity, but probably shouldn't have, was Laurence Fishburn in the role of Whitey Powers, Sean's partner. Fishburn delivers a powerful performance that manages to wrestle some of the attention from his scenemates, proving that he is more than just Morpheus.
I sometimes find Eastwood's work a little too heavy-handed, both in the acting and the directing department. Again in this movie, there were brief moments where the film went so far, the viewer necessarily recoils beyond immersion into the movie's story. However, overall, Eastwood translates a great story to film, though I would have preferred greater inclusion and development of the female roles.
Mystic River is mind-blowing, and I'm not certain that I fully 'got it', but unfortunately much of what I think I did get I cannot discuss without giving away most of the story's surprises. Needless to say, it's very good, though it lags as time (as many arthouse films do). Occasionally, it loses energy and the pacing seems off, and I (as a critic of most endings) thought this ending went on a little too long. But there are many pleasant plot points, such as the resolution of Sean's failing marriage, that make for a great watch. There's a good reason why this movie is nominated for Best Picture, and while this film will most assuredly go over your head the first time around, it certainly is a must-see, if only for the powerhouse acting.