Clint Eastwood has “made my day”. On a recent winter evening with plunging temperatures that make even a polar bear put on a fur coat and having had a sumptuous meal of “3 mile” wings (very spicy) with beer and an over dose of eye tonic at Hooters, I found myself making my way to the multiplex and embarking on a journey down the Mystic River.
This movie released in Dec 2003, was a memorable film-going experience – directed by Clint Eastwood and with a running time of 137 minutes – this has been nominated for six Oscar Awards. Hopefully it should win a couple.
The Plot:
The movie begins with three childhood friends – Jimmy Markum, Dave Boyle and Sean Devine. They are playing hockey on the road in their neighborhood and challenge each other to etch their names on a piece of side walk which was freshly cemented. Just as Dave was about to write his name, two tough guys pull in a car and take him away. Dave makes a brave escape after four days.
Fast forward to present times.
Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn) is the owner of a convenience store. He has a nineteen year old daughter – Katie from his previous marriage and has two more daughters through his current wife – Annebeth (Laura Linney).
Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins) has a young son Michael whom he teaches to play baseball and his wife is Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden).
Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) works in the Massachusetts Police Department and his wife has walked out on him.
The story is set in Boston.
Katie goes bar hopping and gets drunk with her friends and happens to be in the same bar as Dave. Dave returns home late at night with a knife wound and blood on his hands and confesses to Celeste that he was attacked by a mugger and he may have killed him in self defense.
Katie disappears and she is found dead in a car crash and her body is badly wounded with a heavy object. Foul play and murder is suspected. Sean along with Whitey Powers (Laurence Fishburne) starts the investigations. This makes Sean go back and start interacting with his childhood friends. The three friends were not the same after Dave’s abduction. Each one of them feels that it could have been them in the car.
The rest of the story revolves around the various clues, the murder weapon with a matching ballistic report, Jimmy’s impatience at trying to find his daughters’ murderer on his own through the Savage Brothers (members of his gang), Celeste’s suspicions on her husband Dave.
The story is well told with a tight script, a haunting background music (composed by Clint Eastwood himself). Suffice to say, all the loose ends are tied together and one is on the edge of the seat waiting for the next scene. The only downside could be the length of narration – it was a tad longer than necessary.
It will be unfair to divulge the ending and I would highly recommend you to watch it when you get the opportunity.
The Performances:
# Sean Penn as Jimmy Markum. An outstanding performance. Ample opportunity to display a wide range of emotions. Personal opinion – not worthy of an Oscar for best actor. Be on the look out for a large cross tattooed on his back – amazing.
# Tim Robbins as Dave Boyle. Portrayed a disturbed man very well. The scars of sexual abuse with his childhood captors have had an impact during his later years. Deserves an Oscar for the best supporting actor.
# Kevin Bacon as Sean Devine. Not much scope or meat for his role. His performance was marginal.
# Laurence Fishburne as Whitey Powers. He was wasted in a role which was not well defined.
# Marcia Gay Harden as Celeste Boyle. She impressed me with her acting. especially her facial expressions which conveyed a lot. Deserves an Oscar for best supporting actress.
The rest of the supporting cast performed well especially Brendan, who was the boy friend of Katie.
The Oscar Nominations:
* Best Motion Picture of the Year
* Best Achievement in Directing: Clint Eastwood
* Best Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn as Jimmy Markum
* Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Tim Robbins as Dave Boyle
* Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Marcia Gay Harden as Celeste Boyle
* Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Brian Helgeland
My vote would be for Tim Robbins and Marcia Gay Harden. Having not read the book, I cannot comment on the adapted screenplay. We would know by Feb 29.
All in all, I would give this a 4/5. A good murder mystery with a tight script, good locales and excellent all round performances.
Movie experience at its best.