Film and Felt

A second viewing of Clint Eastwood’s somber psychological study eliminated many problems I had back in October. Initially, the mystery (which is often clumsily handled, overly reliant on coincidence and suspension of belief) took too much of my attention away from the characters: the real stars of Mystic River. While Sean Penn’s work has garnered the most acclaim, it’s Tim Robbins’ subtle portrayal of Dave that really holds Mystic River together. It’s astonishing how every movement Robbins makes sucks us more deeply into the chaos and turmoil of his head. Note the wearied and haggard look in the picture on the right, the blends of emotional exhaustion and uncertainy of direction. Robbins mixes everything together to form a potpourri of despair that’s really heartbreaking. Mystic River wouldn’t succeed without his presence; Penn’s excellent (per usual), but doesn’t have nearly as complex a role to fill (his Jimmy follows the pretty routine path of cockiness to tragedy to redemption, against the backdrop of a criminal background to enhance all of this). Kevin Bacon does adequate work as the cop Sean, but his role could have been filled equally well by dozens of actors. Most of the supporting work is fine, though Marcia Gay Harden (Dave’s wife Celeste) isn’t particularly convincing in her naivete.

The story revolves around three childhood friends (Dave, Jimmy, Sean) bound together by a tragic incident of youth. At age 11, Dave was taken off in a car by two sickos impersonating policemen while Jimmy and Sean helplessly watched from the Boston sidewalk. It was four days before a molested and abused Dave managed to escape, his psyche shattered, his friendships lost. Fast forward 25 years to the present—the three still live in the same New England town, but have become little more than casual acquaintances. But suddenly, Jimmy’s 19 year-old daughter Katie is murdered, sending the community into turmoil and reuniting the three friends in a strange series of events (Sean is assigned to the case, while Dave was at the bar where Katie was last seen on the night of the killing). As the trio’s unavoidable attachment deepens, the true repercussions of that day in the car begin to crystallize and haunt - Dave’s psychological makeup eerily mirrors Jimmy’s deepening mental disintegration, and Sean’s forced to balance his past bonds with his current investigation.

Mystic River’s primary flaws are tied to the mystery itself. Plenty of characters affect the story, like Katie’s boyfriend Brendan—the two were planning to elope to Vegas the coming weekend. His father happened to be an old enemy of Jimmy’s, leading to disdain and distrust in both the present and past. While this impressively mirrors the timeline theme, the problem with it—and others—is that it’s just too coincidental. Frequently, people are tied together in ways that seem to exist only to aid the narrative structure. This takes a lot away from the emotional heft, particularly on the first viewing…a good deal of the encounters and ties lack the authenticity for them to pack any kind of real punch. There’s also a subplot with Sean and his wife that’s clumsy and pointless, its minor positive impact on a thematic level greatly outweighed by the cliches and cheesiness, and the epilogue alternates between important symbolism and silliness. I’m harping on the negatives a lot because most people will only see Mystic River once, and the flaws need to be addressed. However, for those with patience and the desire to delve deeper into the mystic…

Eastwood cleverly leaves Jimmy’s future in Sean’s hands and refuses to give us a clear answer, allowing the ambiguity to force us to consider what’s right and wrong. Many of the conclusions and questions that Mystic River raises are so far from black and white that you really do reevaluate many issues, from societay acceptance to mercy to grounds for loyalty. Despite its problems, Mystic River paints a powerful portrait of grief and psychological despair, one that’s enhanced by the somber cinematography and appropriately subtle score as well as the aforementioned outstanding acting. Eastwood’s direction, aside from aspects of the second half, is correctly restrained—he doesn’t try to stamp Mystic River as a Clint flick, content to step back and let the storyline and performances carry the show. The shot of Dave’s first arrest, hauntingly the twin to his intitial kidnapping right down to the camera angle, sums up Mystic River’s effectiveness and power. A tale of tragic misinterpretation, Mystic River requires deep focus on the multiple tortured souls to fully be harnessed. Push aside the mystery, and perhaps you can reel it in.

© Gabe Leibowitz 2004