Ending was terrible

Rating: 1/10 (19 December 2019)

Of course as per usual the bad guys (mobsters) get away with it and the technically good guy dies (even though later it's revealed he killed a molester) and we're supposed to feel like it was a great story because it's a tragedy? Huh? The tragedy is I'm glad the daughter died in the first place! Jimmy (Sean Penn) really deserved it! What this movie showcases well is that God will bring justice and take your daughter if you make stupid decisions! Hahah. This movie also shows that there can be a cast of characters and you will root for none of them. No one is likable sorry!
Let's talk about certain individuals and inconsistencies...
Jimmy (Mobster): Why is he portrayed as a guy we should sympathize with if he has killed many people before? (you can assume so and he admits it) Is he that cold-blooded that he doesn't even feel much guilt towards the end of the film? What of Dave's widowed wife and his son? Does losing his daughter now make him a mafia boss? What exactly does he "do for a living"? Is he really straight now or in the illegal drugs business? Was he ever really straight if he was sending a dead guy's family 500 bucks every month?
Sean (Cop/Detective): Why does he say he would arrest anybody even if it's his friends when speaking to the Sargent but hesitates to do so when confronted with basically an admission of guilt from Jimmy? Does this film imply that cops are afraid of mobsters? Is he for or against justice? What the heck does that ending scene mean as he finger shoots Jimmy? "Hey, you got away this time but next time I'll get ya! Soon as I'm done being a father and a husband to my wife who came back home?" Does he feel sympathy for Dave's son or now is he taking a break and happily ever after?
Dave (Tim Robbins): Do we assume he's an intelligent character? He certainly knows how to respond to the police when interrogated. Besides the stories that don't add up, wouldn't it be logical to believe that at some point he would have admitted to his wife that he beat up a molester and placed the body behind the bar before his wife left him or accused him of murder of a friends daughter? Is their relationship in that much turmoil that she confides in other men besides her own husband? Dave is obviously traumatized but he's not stupid. There is no reason to be lying and making himself look like a suspect in the murder case. At least keep the story consistent! As I was watching the movie I hypothesized that Dave KNEW who the killer was that fateful night (the mute boy) but was not going to snitch on him out of pure pity. It turns out he didn't tell the truth because he wanted to save his own ass from the discovery of a molester who he had beaten up? Then at the end he's going to save his own ass again by admitting to something he didn't do?
Celeste (Dave's wife): Okay, her character is pretty stupid. Would any wife on
Earth tell the victims father, "Hey I think my own husband murdered your daughter and I'm afraid of him"? Why not tell the cops this and stay quiet in the meantime? Why not relay this information to the cops and extract the truth out of Dave? She has no refutable evidence besides her gut feeling and some minor circumstantial evidence. Does she not believe in her husband or in a fair trial? Does she feel guilt in her husbands disappearance and "eventual" discovery of his death?
Also, Sean Penn and those mafia goons are just downright pathetic! What is this the 1940's? If you're going to intimidate someone bring more men and firepower! The Japanese Yakuza would make these guys look like bickering children! I mean they played tag with the cops in the opening scenes trying to get to Jimmy's daughter...they wouldn't dare lay a hand on the cops and now all of a sudden we're supposed to assume that the cops can't catch any of these dimwitted goons? They can't stick any charges on them? It's not like they're geniuses and run an organized crime syndicate now c'mon...
This film really did suck I'm sorry to say Clint.