Mystic River

Mystic River opens with the defining moment in the lives of all of its characters, three boys are playing street hockey when on of them is abducted and taken away. This one even shaped who these people became, from crooks to cops to basket cases as they are dealt the consequences of not only the one who got into the car, but of being the ones who were left behind. It is a murder mystery without any chase scenes and little gunplay. Though Clint Eastwood excelled at making the typical cop movie, here he delivers a cop movie of a different type. Here the story revolves around pairs of people, the three boys and the people they have chosen to be with. The cops are Kevin Bacon as Sean Devine and his partner Laurence Fishburne as Whitey the sergeant who remains his objective counterpart. Sean is the only one of the three who has moved out of the neighborhood and his life is remarkable different from those of his former friends. But he is emotionally locked down, a character Bacon plays often the stiff officer, whose wife has left him for an unexplained reason. The investigation of the two police officers is not the story of this film; it is only the framework for viewing how the violent crimes of 20 years ago and the recent crime can have such an impact on so many people.

The story focuses on Jimmy and Dave, the other two boys, and their wives Annabeth and Celeste who are cousins. Sean Penn plays Jimmy Markum, the owner of a grocery story and a former con whose 19 year old daughter is brutally murdered. Tim Robbins plays Dave Boyle, the man who was abducted as a child and has spent the rest of his life trying to return to normalcy. When the investigation begins Jimmy enlists some hoodlum friends of his to conduct their own investigation so that he can render his own justice. The movie comes down mainly to one man whose wife stands behind him, though in much of a Lady Macbeth disturbing kind of fashion, while the other turns on her husband and causes his downfall.

The other star of this film is the East Buckingham section of Boston where the story takes place. This film is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane and the tough working class section of Boston is as much an influence on the actions of the characters as any events that befall them. The accents done in this movie were really impressive, the Boston area and its lower middle class inhabitants really come alive in the patterns of speech of the actors. I loved that all of the cars were wrecks; they looked like they belonged in the neighborhood with the characters.

It is easy to see why Sean Penn received the Oscar nod for this performance, it has all of the nomination worth scenes where he screams or cries in rage over his daughter’s death. He is a man possessed by a rage that needs to be satisfied and to that end he conducts his own investigation aided by some of his shady companions. Jimmy is a man used to being in control and he seeks revenge as a way to retain control in this world. His wife Annabeth is crushed by the horror of the murder but seems to resent her husband’s partiality for the daughter of his first marriage. What she is sure of is the sanctity of her home and she protects this as fiercely as possible regardless of any moral issues that might arise.

But it was Tim Robbin’s off-putting performance as the damaged Dave that was really impressive and made the whole movie work. If his character did not tread carefully the line between believability and cunning the film would not have had any impact. Marcia Gay Harden as his wife Celeste performed admirable as a woman who sees her world falling apart and does not have the strength to hold things together.

The ending went on a bit long after the climactic scene and the music seemed a bit heavy handed and removed the audience from the drama especially in the juxtaposed scene with the First Communion and the discovery of the murder scene. Overall this was a movie well worth watching with admirable performances by the men and women of it’s cast.