"We bury our sins here..., we wash them clean."

Rating: 8/10 (20 February 2018)

One thing is certain, this film would not have passed muster under the Production Code of the 1930's and 40's. Not only does it show someone getting away with murder, but it also involves a lawful authority complicit in the knowledge that a former childhood friend did it.
I thought this was a masterfully constructed story until it got to those final revelations. One might consider all the interconnected relationships between the various characters to be stretched beyond credibility, but while the story was taking place none of it seemed forced. The opening sequence with the three principals as young boys went a long way to explain the emotional pain Davey Boyle (Tim Robbins) went through his entire life. For his own wife (Marcia Gay Harden) to believe that Davey killed Jimmy Markum's (Sean Penn) daughter demonstrates how fragile their own relationship had become.
What bothered me about the story were twofold. When Jimmy actually admits to his wife Annabeth (Laura Linney) that he killed Davey - first, I couldn't believe he did that, and second, her response was to make him feel better about it. No revulsion, no disgust, it was simply out of character to a normal human reaction for that kind of admission. The other problem was Sean Devine's (Kevin bacon) reaction as a police detective. One can only assume, because no clear motivation was offered, that Sean felt Jimmy had gone through enough with the death of his daughter, and at a time he was dealing with his own marital problems. But that really doesn't cut it. His gun-hand gesture to Jimmy at the community parade was really bizarre, I just don't know how to process that.
So this may not have been a clear directorial win for Clint Eastwood, but it was a valiant try. Not being a fan of Penn or Robbins, I can appreciate the Oscar wins in their respective categories, I thought they were well deserved. I just would have hoped for a little more thought put into the final outcome to temper the crimes committed with a more appropriate lawful resolution. You don't need a Production Code to convince viewers that there was something off-kilter with the way things turned out.