Mystic
River (2003)
Confusion, anger, misconception,
betrayal, and the darkness of the heart are all themes
of "Mystic River," a dense and black-hearted new mystery
from Clint Eastwood. The actor turned director opts
not to appear in this film, and there really is no
part for him to play. He instead turns the dramatics
over to Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and Tim Robbins, who
make the film even more sinewy, blackened and unapologetic.
"Mystic River" is a hard film to
watch. The film begins with a flashback sequence where
a young boy is kidnapped and (presumably) molested.
The images that begin to unfold after this are no
easier to view. And Eastwood finishes his film with
a climax that is as violent, bloody and disturbing
as any he has ever been involved with in the past.
Watching a young boy have his face repeatedly kicked
here, until it is a bloody pulp, is nearly enough
to make us leave the film. In fact, the dark heart
of the film is nearly its undoing as Eastwood opts
to focus almost exclusively on the violent and sexually
repressed, repulsive nature of man.
Pedophilia is strongly associated
with the film's plot and here we see it used in the
typical manner which evokes anger, irrationality and
suspicion in the audience. Eastwood is hoping for
this irrationality to carry on throughout the film
because, without it, the plot of his piece is so obvious
no red herring could ever disguise it from us. I easily
figured out who the "culprit" in the film's murder
mystery was within a half an hour. Viewers incensed
at the plot and the violence in the film will be much
more easily confused. Pedophilia is a "hot button"
issue (and rightly so) but Eastwood exploits it for
his own purposes here and furthers the exploitation
by making all of the pedophiles in the film seemingly
only interested in little boys.
Eastwood, working from a script
by Brian Helgeland, who is in turn working from a
novel by Dennis Lehane, tries to cram far too much
into the end of the film. Secondary characters emerge
with notions and ideals that have not been present
in their character in the first two hours of the film.
This is a deeply troubling and emotionally complex
story and Eastwood, after pacing the film perfectly
for two hours, crams far too much too digest into
the last twenty minutes. It is nearly the undoing
of the film. Eastwood, also, never seems able to put
the lid on the thing and the last few minutes drag
on and on as he struggles to find a poetic and ironic
capper. He fails.
The only real reason to see the
film is the amazing acting that goes on here. In addition
to Bacon, Robbins, and Penn, Lawrence Fishburn, Laura
Linney, and Marcia Gay Harden also provide good performances
for the film. Even Tom Guiry, one of the worst child
actors of all time, proves he is grown into quite
a capable thespian here. Of all of these, however,
it is Penn and Harden who continually impress us.
Penn may go over the top occasionally in Brando-esque
fits of dramatics, but his character often calls for
just such histrionics. Harden, meanwhile, takes a
tough and thankless role and turns what could be sophomoric
movie of the week tripe inherent in her plotline into
a powerful subplot. This is a performance that proves
Harden truly deserved her Supporting Actress Oscar
a few years ago and may be in line for a repeat this
year.
"Mystic River" is set in Boston
and the thick Bostonian accent the actors adopt help
to submerge this dark and troubling plot into a thick
mysterious sea, a mysterious river of sad, poignant
and intense moments. This isn't a movie that does
anything to uplift the spirit, rather it wallows in
the sea of human violence and depravity that makes
one truly question if being alive is really something
to celebrate.
Note:
Eli Wallach, Eastwood's co-star
in the 1966 film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
has a small cameo role here.
Helgeland also wrote the script
for Eastwood's last film, "Bloodwork."
In addition to producing, Eastwood
also did the score for the film. His son Kyle also
wrote a couple of the songs used here.
Filmed in Boston.
The film was shown at Cannes in
2003 and Eastwood won an award for it.
Viewed
in Austin in October 2003.
