This is where we bury our sins...

Rating: 9/10 (8 February 2005)

If someone had told me what a great director Clint Eastwood is, I would have rented all of the films he directed and watched them in an entire day. I just couldn't believe (as I was watching this film) that this man was behind the camera in all this process. Behind everything. He has created an environment for his characters, a place and time for their development. This doesn't come much often.
An event happens, and it establishes the bases for the rest of the story. But it's not just about that event, I thought myself as I heard the words said from Brian Helgeland's real screenplay. It's about the people involved in that event. It's about the lives these people carry with. There is so much focus on the characters that in occasions we let the event aside.
Sean Penn made two great performances in 2003. One was the man he portrayed in "21 Grams". The other one is Jimmy Markum, and I can't tell which of these performances is greater. So many words are trapped in his eyes when he is crying. Jimmy wants everything to be alright, and he would do anything to achieve that goal. Penn is the kind of actor that makes you feel the way he does.
Tim Robbins found the note here. Well, he always finds it, but this one sounds better than any other. Maybe this is just the character he was looking for. Dave Boyle is the person that could become a phantom. He could not know where he is. He could have been somewhere else for too long. He could be in a trance. And to know that, you just need to look at Robbins's face.
About Sean we sense loneliness. He is waiting for his second chance, and doesn't mind to wait. He would wait a whole life. Bacon has never been recognized for his work. I don't know if he had the chance with Sean's role. But I can give him the fact that he is a risky actor. He doesn't mind going deep.
And women, always there, for men. They don't seem to be that important for their husbands. But they really are. Celeste loves Dave, and trusts him. But she can't do that when some other things are happening, although she wants to. There's a limit. Marcia Gay Harden is great. She shows a lot of emotion always, you can't keep your eyes off her. Her performance here could be, or is, as good as the one in "Pollock". There are also those wives who know all, and wait until things happen. Annabeth is that kind of wife, and Laura Linney shows it in most of the film's key moments.
The cinematography is wonderful, as the music and the details in each frame.
But these three friends, I mean: ¿What has happened between them? ¿In who they've become? ¿What do they feel for each other? There's a strong string that unites them. They have been in the same places and they truly understand why they do what they do. They grew together, and know that some things changed them. Maybe they are not the same persons anymore, but how could they find out.
How.