"Sean Penn---Robert DeNiro's Unacknowledged Love Child?"--Enquiring minds want to know...

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2003)

With "I Am Sam" and "Dead Man Walking" as a backdrop, the academy will undoubtedly hand Sean Penn the best actor prize for this outing. And, god bless 'em, why not? This performance IS remarkable. But in all the hoopla surrounding Penn's performance, it's a pity that similar huzzahs are not being shouted from the rafters for a host of other folks involved in bringing this adaptation of Lehane's novel to the screen. To wit:
1)Clint Eastwood---another notch in the belt for an actor's director
who knows how to create exactly the correct ambience, get exactly the right cast, and then get out of the way...and that's how he gets these perfectly organic performances time after time. 2)Tim Robbins---and now the academy's gonna owe THIS fella the door prize the next time 'round...a bravura performance...pay close attention to his character's walk and posture....beautiful.
3)A superb supporting cast (Harden, Fishburne, Bacon, Linney and an uncredited Eli Wallach in the only really funny scene in an otherwise tragic movie...unfortunately, Kevin Conway, who is
perfectly cast, and whose character is more integral in the novel, doesn't enjoy much screen time...would have love to have seen him for another few minutes...
4)Brian Helgeland's screenplay---why mess with a good thing? he stays faithful to the book and compresses the exposition and internal dialogue of the novel without losing the focus..
5)Tom Stern's cinematography---the tone of the movie is set right at the outset. Gritty realism....
A good novel and a great film. And Sean Penn is looking more and more like DeNiro every day, isn't he?