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#134 - Mystic River
Clint Eastwood, 2003
A trio of childhood friends grow up into different roles - one a cynical detective, one an embittered ex-con, one a shiftless family man - find themselves brought back together when the daughter of one of them is found to be murdered.
Watching this after other Dennis Lehane adaptations (especially Gone Baby Gone, which also focuses on the ramifications of a whodunit in working-class Boston) does kind of suck the tension out a little bit, but Mystic River is still a fairly solid little mystery film that does do rather well at playing up the moral ambiguity surrounding its tale of a murdered teenager. Kevin Bacon plays the detective investigating the case, and his tough-talking banter with his partner (Laurence Fishburne) is definitely a high point for this particular film. Tim Robbins definitely earns an Oscar for his portrayal of a man who struggles with traumatic childhood experiences even as a middle-aged adult, and some of his scenes are downright disturbing simply due to how he plays them by himself, whether it's his uncertainty or his inner demons being revealed. Despite his own Oscar win, I find Sean Penn to be the weak link in the lead trio - as the murder victim's father, he does get a fair bit to work with but his acting comes across as fairly unimpressive for most of the time, especially his reaction to the sight of his daughter's corpse that leads to a screaming session of Nicolas Cage quality (I mean, just look at that screencap). Other actors don't get all that much to work with - Marcia Gay Harden works well as Robbins' beleagured wife, for instance. Laura Linney as Penn's wife...not so much.
In regards to technicality, well, Eastwood has never been much of a stickler for technical flair, which I suppose suits the down-to-earth suburban murder mystery vibe of this whole film rather well. It's arguably a bit too long, especially considering how long it goes on after its climax and supposed denouement, but it's a solid enough murder mystery with just enough moral ambiguity at play to make it interesting but not enough to make it excellent.
Clint Eastwood, 2003
A trio of childhood friends grow up into different roles - one a cynical detective, one an embittered ex-con, one a shiftless family man - find themselves brought back together when the daughter of one of them is found to be murdered.
Watching this after other Dennis Lehane adaptations (especially Gone Baby Gone, which also focuses on the ramifications of a whodunit in working-class Boston) does kind of suck the tension out a little bit, but Mystic River is still a fairly solid little mystery film that does do rather well at playing up the moral ambiguity surrounding its tale of a murdered teenager. Kevin Bacon plays the detective investigating the case, and his tough-talking banter with his partner (Laurence Fishburne) is definitely a high point for this particular film. Tim Robbins definitely earns an Oscar for his portrayal of a man who struggles with traumatic childhood experiences even as a middle-aged adult, and some of his scenes are downright disturbing simply due to how he plays them by himself, whether it's his uncertainty or his inner demons being revealed. Despite his own Oscar win, I find Sean Penn to be the weak link in the lead trio - as the murder victim's father, he does get a fair bit to work with but his acting comes across as fairly unimpressive for most of the time, especially his reaction to the sight of his daughter's corpse that leads to a screaming session of Nicolas Cage quality (I mean, just look at that screencap). Other actors don't get all that much to work with - Marcia Gay Harden works well as Robbins' beleagured wife, for instance. Laura Linney as Penn's wife...not so much.
In regards to technicality, well, Eastwood has never been much of a stickler for technical flair, which I suppose suits the down-to-earth suburban murder mystery vibe of this whole film rather well. It's arguably a bit too long, especially considering how long it goes on after its climax and supposed denouement, but it's a solid enough murder mystery with just enough moral ambiguity at play to make it interesting but not enough to make it excellent.