Mystic River

Rating: 6/10 (19 April 2006)

I saw this film over fifteen years ago, I couldn't remember anything about it, the 90th birthday of its director Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me, Unforgiven, Million Dollar, The Mule) was approaching, so it was the perfect opportunity to watch it again. Basically, in the summer of 1975, in a neighbourhood in Boston, three young boys, Dave Boyle (Cameron Bowen), Jimmy Markum (Jason Kelly) and Sean Devine (Connor Paolo), are playing on the street. They write their names on the sidewalk in a square of wet concrete, when a car pulls up with two men, one pretending to be a police officer and the other a priest. After telling Dave to get into the car, the men kidnap him, hold him captive and he is abused for four days, until he escapes. Twenty-five years later, the boys have all grown, still live in Boston, but have drifted apart. Jimmy (Oscar and Golden Globe winning, and BAFTA nominated Sean Penn) is an ex-con running a convenience store; Sean (Kevin Bacon) is a detective with the Massachusetts State Police; and Dave (Oscar and Golden Globe winning, and BAFTA nominated Tim Robbins) is a blue collar worker continually haunted by his abduction. Jimmy's 19-year-old daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum) is secretly dating Brendan Harris (Tom Guiry), Jimmy despises him; they plan to run away to Las Vegas together. One night, Katie goes out night with her girlfriends but is later found murdered. Dave was one of the last to see Katie in the local bar. He comes home covered in blood with an injured hand, he claims to his wife Celeste (Oscar nominated Marcia Gay Harden) that he fought off a mugger whom he may have killed. Sean, whose pregnant wife Lauren (Tori Davis) has left him, investigates Katie's murder, with his partner, Sergeant Whitey Powers (Laurence Fishburne). Distraught and angered, Jimmy meanwhile conducts his own investigation using his neighbourhood connections. Sean discovers that the gun used to kill Katie was previously used by "Just Ray" Harris, the father of Katie's boyfriend, during a liquor store robbery in 1984. Harris has been missing since 1989, but Brendan feigns ignorance about Ray's gun. Whitey suspects Dave as a possible perpetrator being one of the last people to see Katie alive, and he is telling the police a different story to Celeste. Dave continues to behave strangely, which upsets Celeste, she becomes afraid he will hurt her. She eventually tells Jimmy, who was already suspicious, about Dave's behaviour and her own suspicions. After getting Dave drunk at a local bar, Jimmy and his associates follow him when he leaves. Jimmy admits to Dave that he shot "Just Ray", resulting in his imprisonment. Jimmy informs Dave that Celeste thinks he murdered Katie. Jimmy tells Dave he will let him live if he confesses to killing Katie. Dave admits to killing someone, but not Katie that night; he beat a child abuser to death after finding him with a child in a car. Jimmy does not believe Dave and threatens him with a knife. Threatened, Dave falsely admits to killing Katie, thinking he will be let go, but Jimmy kills him and throws his body into the Mystic River. While Dave is being killed, Brendan confronts his younger brother "Silent Ray" (Spencer Treat Clark) and his friend John O'Shea (Andrew Mackin) about Katie's murder. He beats them up and threatens to kill them if they do not admit their guilt. Sean and Whitey arrive in time as John takes the gun and is about to shoot Brendan. The next morning, Sean tells Jimmy that they have arrested the murderers. John and Silent Ray confessed to killing Katie; it was part of a prank gone violently wrong. Katie happened to be passing the boys, who got their hands on the gun. John aimed the gun just to scare her, but the gun accidentally fired. The car crashed and Katie got out and ran away, the boys pursued her so she would not tell anyone. Silent Ray severely beat Katie with a hockey stick, and John shot her again, killing her. Sean asks Jimmy if he has seen Dave, because he is wanted for questioning concerning another case, the murder of the abuser. A distraught Jimmy thanks Sean for finding his daughter's killers, but says, "if only you had been a little faster." After apologising to his wife, Sean reunites with her and his daughter Nora. Jimmy goes to his wife, Annabeth (BAFTA nominated Laura Linney), and confesses. She comforts him and tells him he is a king and kings always make the right decision. At a town parade, Sean sees Jimmy and mimics firing a gun with his hand, to let Jimmy know he is watching him. Also starring Wishmaster's Jenny O'Hara as Esther Harris, Kevin Conway as Theo, and a cameo from Eli Wallach as Mr. Loonie. I'm not the biggest fan of Penn to be honest, but he does give a good performance as the grieving father who will do anything to find his daughter's killer, Robbins is terrific playing the haunted and constantly nervous man, Bacon does well, and there is good support from Gay Harden and Fishburne. The story is essentially three characters sharing the memory of a horrific childhood incident, brought back together by a new tragic event, I agree with critics that the film as a whole is not the most compelling, it is mainly individual scenes that stand out, but it is well written and performed, and the music by Eastwood is splendid, a worthwhile murder mystery drama. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Picture, and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay for Brian Helgeland (A Knight's Tale, Man on Fire), it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay, and it was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama, and Best Screenplay. Good!