Trenchant, somber production with several potent vignettes

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2004)

Dennis Lehane's "Mystic River", adapted by Brian Helgeland and directed by Clint Eastwood, is a coming-of-age tale/character study/murder mystery with marginally compelling results. As young boys growing up in a working class section of Boston, Jimmy Markum, Sean Devine and Dave Boyle spent their days reveling in their youthful innocence until one event drastically alters the course of their lives, Dave Boyle's in particular. Thirty years later, Jimmy Markum's eldest daughter is found dead, and the three old friends (whose lives took separate paths) are reunited under less than harmonious circumstances. Later, Dave is targeted as a suspect in the girl's death. Sean, now a police detective (Kevin Bacon), along with his partner Whitey Powers (Laurence Fishburne), is assigned to the investigation. From here dramatic fireworks erupt in key scenes such as when Jimmy discovers what has happened to his daughter, when a shaken Dave comes home covered in blood to his stunned wife, Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden in a perfectly crafted, Oscar-nominated portrayal), when Celeste confides in Jimmy about Dave, and Jimmy and Dave's final confrontation. The only main character who seems woefully misplaced is Annabeth (Laura Linney), Jimmy's second wife. She has very few scenes anyway, and doesn't know what to do with the scant screen time she has. Annabeth has a powerful speech towards the end, but parts of it defy comprehension. She has a dramatic point to make, but it only comes across halfway. The same argument for Fishburne's stereotypical role as a sarcastic, platitude-uttering cop. He just doesn't bring much depth to his role. The real meat of the film lies in the deeply emotional (and personal) performances of Sean Penn, as Markum, and Tim Robbins, as Boyle (both men won Oscars for their gripping work). Bacon is good, too, as Devine, but the subplot involving his faceless wife is extremely diverting (this must be the story's way of involving his personal background). Also, what conclusion(s) can the viewer make from the final scene? A mixed bag by Eastwood, but undeniably compelling. ***