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Mystic Machismo

Reviewed by: Ryan McNally

Mystic River

In recent years, landmark director Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven) has shown signs of slipping. Recent efforts such as True Crime, Space Cowboys and Blood Work all had their moments, but seemed a world removed from Eastwood classics such as The Outlaw Josey Wales, Bird and A Perfect World. At age 73, were Clint's best directing efforts behind him?

Mystic River answers that question with a resounding "no." This dark, powerful murder mystery creeps up on you, hits you in the gut and sticks with you for days. It's a major return to form for Eastwood and one of the most exciting films of the year.

A brief-but-chilling prologue sets up the events that will propel the film to its riveting climax. Circa 1975, three young boys (Jimmy, Dave & Sean) see an innocent game of street hockey turn into a nightmare. Before the day is over, Dave is abducted and brutally abused, and the lives of the three boys will never be the same.

Flash forward 25 years. The three old friends barely see one another. Jimmy (Sean Penn) is a rough-and-tough convenience store owner, Dave (Tim Robbins) a shuffling father just getting by, Sean (Kevin Bacon) a cop in a failed relationship. But when Jimmy's 19-year-old daughter Katie is brutally murdered, their paths cross again.

Sean teams up with his partner Whitey (a rock-solid Laurence Fishburne) to investigate the case; concurrently, Jimmy's team of neighborhood toughs does their own brand of detective work. Meanwhile, Jimmy struggles to come to grips with his anguish, as does his wife Annabeth (Laura Linney). Helping console them is Annabeth's cousin Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden), who is now married to Dave.

Complications arise when Dave, one of the last people to see Katie, becomes a potential suspect. Another suspect is Katie's boyfriend Brendan (Tom Guiry, showing enormous potential). As the investigation proceeds, twists and turns abound, with one lead taking Sean and Whitey to a liquor store run by Eastwood's GBU nemesis Eli Wallach (nailing his scene like the seasoned pro he is).

Screenwriter Brian Helgeland (L.A. Cofidential), working from Dennis Lehane's acclaimed novel, again proves adept at penning a twisty narrative. But his real accomplishment comes in the way he teams with director Eastwood to focus on the damaged psyches that inhabit Mystic River's world. It's a film that memorably tackles subject matter addressed in many of Eastwood's best works: cyclical violence, machismo and redemption.

The cast is unusually strong. Penn's performance, like much of Eastwood's film, is all about risk. He's most impressive in the quieter scenes, such as a penetrating exchange with his father-in-law after Katie's death, or a grief-stricken conversation with Dave on his porch. Robbins' haunted turn packs an enormous wallop, vividly showing us the painful scars he still bears. Bacon, in the performance of his career, delivers a superb turn filled with subtlety and ambiguity. And Harden, so good in Ed Harris' biopic Pollock, is outstanding as a meek, scared woman who must comes to grips with one painful revelation after another.

The mystery builds to a devastating climax, brilliantly orchestrated by Eastwood, Editor Joel Cox and Cinematographer Tom Stern, that likely won't be topped this year. It left me shaken in a way I haven't felt since 2000's Requiem For A Dream. If that's not enough, a fearlessly unconventional coda will leave some viewers thrilled, others infuriated, and all thinking hard long after watching the film.

With its small nuances and multiple layers, Mystic River is a film that demands multiple viewings. Unfliching and uncompromising, it easily overcomes some minor missteps to stand as one of the year's best films.

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