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A Warner Brothers release. Written by Nicholas Shakespeare; directed by Clint Eastwood; starring Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. Released to DVD on June 8, 2004.  I’m often asked, “What are your favorite movies to write about?”
And while the question is usually asked with a specific genre answer in mind, the truth is that my favorite types of movies to write about are the ones that I find to be either really good or really bad. When a given project strikes a chord with me, either positively or negatively, it’s relatively easy to latch onto that and work from there. Writing about films that don’t have enough energy to be considered outstanding and that don’t do enough things wrong to be considered bad is just about the most difficult task that a critic can face; how does one go about creating a lively and passionate review about a movie that doesn’t fit into either category?
Director Clint Eastwood’s latest project, Mystic River, is a prime example of a film that earns this (dubious?) distinction. Ambitious and smart, yet slow moving and surprisingly superficial given the breadth of the plot material, Mystic River seemed a decidedly average film.
Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon star as Jimmy, David and Sean respectively. Having grown up together in the same working class neighborhood in Boston, the three men share a traumatic bond: they were playing together when David was kidnapped by a pedophile; as both Jimmy and Sean note throughout the movie, it could just as easily have been one of them who was taken. Held captive for four days before escaping, the event permanently warps David. Though their friendship drifts apart as the years pass, the men are brought back together when Jimmy’s oldest daughter, Katie (Emmy Rossum) is found murdered and Sean is called upon to serve as the case’s lead detective.
The acting in Mystic River is top notch. Penn and Laura Linney are good in their roles, but it is Robbins in particular who stands out. Deeply tormented by the four days of abuse he suffered through as a child, Robbins carries the weight of this on his shoulders as an adult, slouched, withdrawn and very soft-spoken.
Mystic River definitely had enjoyable and horrifically well created moments of life’s pain, it just didn’t have enough of them to make this film anything other than an actor’s showcase.
chris neumer yes, it's true: There actually is a Mystic River in Boston, Massachusetts. |
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Jumping back and forth between scenes of Jimmy, Sean and David as they cope with their individual losses and scenes of Sean and his partner investigating Katie’s murder, the pacing of Mystic River