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Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Most of the time, the past can have a traumatic effect on the future. We all have done something that has affected how we do things and think. What happens when something happens to you where your life and the lives of your friends change forever? Clint Eastwood presents Mystic River, a mystery where three former friends’ lives come together with the murder of one’s daughter and a past they are trying to forget.
Directed and scored by the great Clint Eastwood, Mystic River is a mystery film where the lives of three friends and their past come to light. In the summer of 1975, in the mean streets of Boston, three kids are playing street hockey. The friends are Dave Boyle, Jimmy Markum, and Sean Devine. As the kids’ play, their fun is interrupted by two men who look like cops as they wave their badges around. After some questioning, the men take Dave, where they sexually assault him for four days until he manages to escape. Dave is severely traumatized, with this instance lasting until adulthood. Twenty-five years later, the three friends have drifted apart from each other. Jimmy (Penn) is an ex-con and a father of three while owning a little shop. Dave (Robbins) is a blue-collar worker with a loving wife and son. Sean (Bacon) is a homicide detective whose wife has recently left him. The three lives change when Jimmy’s daughter Katie is found dead, and Dave becomes the prime suspect with Sean, the lead detective on the case. As Sean investigates the murder, the demons of the past and present soon come to light. Each character faces a question. Will Sean be able to solve Katie’s murder? Will Jimmy find the murder first and bring his own justice? Will the past haunt Dave so much that he unravels?
Mystic River is a dark and ominous film that what happens in the past can affect one in the future. Jimmy, Dave, and Sean were all friends when they were kids until Dave got taken and sexually assaulted. This film starts off fucked up with two men masquerading as police officers, taking Danny away as Jimmy and Sean look on in confusion and fear. The next scene we see is Danny locked up in a basement-type room. The men are not cops but child molesters who sexually assault him even when he asks and says no more. Danny manages to escape, but we never know what happened to the men. How messed up is that. Yet, this one event changed the course of the three friends. Twenty-five years later, one becomes an ex-con who runs a shop, another becomes a cop, and the third is a blue-collar worker, but they have drifted apart.
I was trying to think of how to explain the plot or how the story is presented, and it’s like a Shakespearean play. It’s like Hamlet, Macbeth, or one of his plays that is a tragedy. Even though we get a police investigation, the characters are all part of this play-like theme. The premise of the whole film is the murder of Jimmy’s daughter. Losing a child is heartbreaking, and the search for answers and results weighs on everyone. Each character takes their respective role.
Jimmy seems to be the heartbroken king. He flips his shit when he finds out that his daughter was killed. Jimmy states that he will kill the person who killed his daughter, and we know he means it as he is the king of his neighborhood. He hires men he is close with to do their own investigation and interrogates anyone while the police try to do their job. Jimmy’s wife seems to take on the appearance that tough choices must be made no matter the consequences. With a Shakespearean play, we need one that must uphold the law and yet has their own demons. It seems like cops always have some type of issues going on in their life. Sean is tasked with the homicide and investigation. He tries to keep a hold on the investigation, but Jimmy is on his own quest. Also, Sean’s own demons with his wife separating from him and pregnant. Finally, in our Shakespearean play, we need one that seems guilty as hell, but there is more than meets the eye with the character. Danny is that character that seems innocent but is haunted severely. He has a loving wife and son, but he comes come one night with blood on his hands after being at a bar. He states a guy tried to mug him. Yet, with a play, when you think you have the answer and the person is caught, it turns out to not be the one you thought of.
The greatness of this film is the performances from Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. Each one expertly displays their character’s emotions in a way that will make you think and sympathize with each other actions. The intensity they have when they are cross-examined by police and family is chilling. Sean Penn is a master at yelling at people and bringing that intensity. Dude was straight-up scary and evil-looking on his quest for answers and vengeance. Robbins is the opposite by showing his character as a loving husband and father but has a minor sense of justice and protection. He doesn’t want anyone to go through what he went through. These men have major secrets that only talking can handle, but they keep it all built up inside.
I don’t know if Clint Eastwood gets enough credit with how he directs his films. The man knows how to direct and has an eye for when he is behind the camera. This one is no different from the feel and atmosphere that he presents. He seems to show the gritty nature in all his films, and they are so damn entertaining. He produced the musical score for this film also. A man of many talents and a true artist.
Mystic River continues the streak of being a great Clint Eastwood film. The director seems to have a way to tell a story while ensuring the audience is squarely on the cast. With that, the cast did an outstanding job of displaying tension and emotion. Penn and Robbins are at their absolute best in this film. Sometimes it’s hard for the past to stay in the past. When it comes to light, lives could change forever.
