Responsiblities

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2003)

The most engaging, and, at the same time estranging aspect of Mystic River is (SPOILER ALERT!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TAKE HEED!) the responsiblity taken, or not taken by the characters. Jimmy, in the end, sees his murder of Dave as necessary, and up to that point our empathy of his plight is centered around the fact that he is the father of a murdered child. In the final frame, I hate him. He has created the child of a murdered father, and he takes no responsiblity for the act itself. Dave, on the other hand, takes responsiblity, not just in the death he suffers, but in the guilt of the crime that invited it, a crime he did not in fact commit. But commit a crime he did, although the punishment he suffers comes across as undeserved and tragic. Sean will or will not harbor the truth, perhaps as long as his life remains intact. My point is that the movie took us there in such a way that I forgot I was watching a mystery. At one point I began to know the truth just as the clues would have me do so, and had to wonder if the film wanted me to or not. To me, this is the most provacative way in which Mystic River turns the formula for classic story structure on it's ear, and explains why Eastwood felt that this was such an important film to make. I can see why he insisted on Boston itself for shooting location instead of Toronto, so he might capture the feel and look of an almost royal court of family secrets, blood and lies, a ground littered with the buried bodies that these families are sworn to protect. A masterpiece indeed.