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In Reply to: "Mystic River:" don't read if you haven't seen it, or will. posted by tinear on October 24, 2003 at 13:21:29:
tinear,[Warning: ending revealed here- do not read this one either if you intend to see it.]
I saw "Mystic River" last evening.
I certainly liked the acting far more than you seem to have done- I thought Tim Robbins must get a least an Oscar nom- and possibly Penn. The gradual deterioration of Robbin's emotional state I thought was brilliantly done and Penn's seedy turmoil is his forte. Lawrence Fishburne however, was wasted in his minor part.
However, you're right about the story and emotional line falling apart. At the end it is clear that Bacon knows Penn has (mistakenly) killed Robbins - and probably the Ellis character- yet lets him go free!- remember Bacon making the bang-bang you're dead gesture at Penn during the parade. This was just absurd and the kind of sentimental dramatic ending that some studio committee must have contrived so that at least two of the three "soulmates" have a "happy" ending. Are we supposed to believe that Bacon thinks Robbins is better off dead and is therefore going to let double murderer Penn off?
I also agree completely that the coincidence of Robbins murder of the pedophile at the excat same time as Penn's daughter was further contrived shite that I wouldn't accept in a Charlie Chan movie.
And finally, having the real murderer of ann's daughterbe the shy mute that we almost never see is some kind of discount Agatha Christie device suitable. I'm suprised there wasn't an elegant dinner party with all the suspects and Bacon says, "the murderer is in this very room. No one noticed the Duke was wearing odd cufflinks that evening or why." Or, "Elementary my dear Dustbin. Elementary. he snake was in the tailor's bowl of soup the whole time."
"Mystic River" has the most palpable violence since "Unforgiven." It is interesting that Eastwood has this continuing fascination with the morality of murder, but "MR" has so many important plot holes and emotional short-circuits it's a canyon.
Many individual scenes were beautifully done with great acting and dialogue, but overall I was angry about the contrived plot in a movie that intended to depict gritty, working class Boston verite.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Follow Ups:
I didn't find it sentimental at all. Bacon's the only character who could be said to have a "happy" resolution. (OK, so that's a bit sentimental. Bacon is still carrying around plenty of guilt and failure in his heart. I'm glad his wife and kid came back.))Bacon is clearly NOT letting Penn off the hook. The point of his bang-bang gesture is that Bacon is literally "pointing the finger' at Jimmy, letting us and him know Bacon is going after Penn for Dave's murder. In that context the gesture isn't "absurd", it tells us and Jimmy that it ain't over, in fact, their fates are still intertwined and their story continues.
Sean just let Jimmy go? Ummmm...not exactly. Why didn't Bacon arrest Penn the morning the body was found? Because he couldn't, that's why. What evidence did he have? Nada, not even a body. (Remember, Just Ray's body was *never* found. His family - and everyone else - thought he was alive.) Sean had absolutely nothing that would stand up in a court of law. Only a veiled reference in conversation. Inadmissable.
Nevertheless, Sean's out to nail Jimmy, somehow, someday.
I thought the acting was excellent. And, although I've never read the book, I had the murderer picked out 1/3 through the movie. The clues are all there - it's tragedy of the consequences of past actions reaching into the present thing again.
The key scene here is Penn's agonized guilt over his daughter's death - he says he knows he's responsible in some way for her murder, but he doesn't know how. The movie shows us how.
Penn's acting. Never got the feeling he was a grieving dad. He seemed to jump around emotionally too much. Maybe that could be realistic, but in film, one has to create a character in only a couple of hours, with that character on screen for far less. He had many scenes, but there was no pattern. No build up. He was stronger in "Dead Man Walking." He should have gotten an Oscar for that.
"Unforgiven" is a far superior film. Shows that Eastwood, or any director, can't make a silk purse from...
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