Mystic River

What's the Plot?

Jimmy (Sean Penn), Dave (Tim Robbins) and Sean (Kevin Bacon) all grew up together as kids in the rougher side of Boston with normal stories that children would experience....that is until Dave had something happen that would change their lives forever. 25 years later and the 3 of them find themselves back together again by another life-altering event: the murder of Jimmy's 19 year old daughter. Now a cop, Sean finds himself assigned to the case with his partner (Laurence Fishburne). The seemingly senseless murder will be hard enough to investigate without the fact that Jimmy is a man driven by rage to find his daughter's killer and exact his own form of justice before his friend and the law that he represents, can do. Also connected to the case is Dave by a series of coincidences and circumstances who will be forced to confront the demons of his past. These demons threaten to destroy his marriage to Annabeth (Laura Linney), and any hope that he may have for a normal future. As the net around these friends tightens with the ongoing investigation, a story comes to light of family, friends and lost innocence that could tear their worlds apart.

The Review

There's something to be said for perseverance. Eastwood's disappointing Blood Work had it's screenplay done by Brian Helgeland - director of A Knight's Tale and the awful The Sin Eater which he lensed AND wrote - but it seems that the Mayor of Carmel did not hold that against him. This time round, Helgeland has done a much better job with Dennis Lehane's novel. Here nothing is black and white. Evil is not pure and simple, but a mixture of human frailties and circumstances that have enough power to destroy lives and ruin both the past and present.

With such a solid base to work from, Eastwood has a much easier job to do. This is of course helped no end by the caliber of his assembled cast. Penn, who has shown his talent capabilities in the likes of Dead Man Walking, again delivers a believable character experiencing some of the worst that the world can throw. Bacon, who's turn in Stir Of Echoes did little too lose his "nutter/pyscho" image from the likes of Sleepers, gets to bring to the screen a more complex individual who finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place as he begins to discover things in his investigation, but neither of them have the hardest job.

Robbins, who's directing duties are more of the hard edged material compared to his acting choices, has the toughest role as the character who would really deserves the audience sympathy but doesn't quite get it due to the inevitable loss of transferring a book to the screen. What's been lost in the screenplay would have helped Robbin's character but as fans of the likes of Harry Potter well know, something will always suffer. That aside, Eastwood delivers a good film yet again with a great cast that make the most of a script from a cracking (but hard to transfer) book.

STEVE'S SCORE