Mystic River
Apr. 8th, 2005 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeI watched the movie Mystic River this week--most of it a couple of days ago, and the final half-hour last night. I've been thinking a lot about it. It's a beautifully shot, evocative movie--just on technical terms alone, it's a great movie. The shot where Sean Penn visits the crime scene and tries to bust through the line of cops, who hold him back, wailing "is that my daughter in there?" the camera pulls up and up, as if it can't bear such close witness to this man's pain. The neighborhood is spare and...there. Here. Not a set, but someplace real.
The story is what's really sticking with me, though. It's about three kids (who grow up to be Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins) who are playing one day, a car pulls up and a guy steps out pretending to be a cop, and intimidates the Tim Robbins kid (Dave) into the car, where another guy waits. They take him off for four days of hell--he's able to escape, but the neighborhood consensus is that he's "damaged goods." Flash-forward to 25+ years later, and the three now-grown men lead largely separate lives, until Sean Penn's (Jimmy) daughter is murdered--Kevin Bacon (Sean) is a state cop who's investigating the murder, and Dave is a suspect. Jimmy starts his own investigation with his neighborhood boyos...who lead him to Dave. They get him drunk and then take him out back of the bar, and Jimmy basically orders him to confess. He knows Dave did it. He's telling Dave about how he killed another thug years ago because the guy ratted him out and sent him to prison where he was when his first wife was dying of cancer. He says "You do death alone, but I could've helped her with the dying part." Dave realizes what's happening--he's telling Jimmy what he did the night the girl was murdered, that he'd murdered a pedophile that he'd caught molesting a kid in his car, but Jimmy doesn't believe him. He orders Dave to confess, saying he'll spare him if he does. And Dave says yeah, I did it. Jimmy asks why. Dave says she reminded him of a dream of youth, of goodness, of purity. And Jimmy murders him anyway.
The next day, Sean (Kavin Bacon) comes by to tell Jimmy they found the killers, a couple of kids fooling around with a gun and things just happened. And he needs to speak to Dave about the body of a confirmed child molestor that was also found. The look on Jimmy's face...Sean asks him "What did you do, Jimmy?" in these despairing tones.
You do death alone.
Dave never had a chance. The title is the clue--fate is as inevitable as the river--Dave's fate was writ large as soon as the guy from the car picked him to abduct. He never had a fucking chance. Oh man. His last scene, where he begs to be left alive, he says he wants to be with his wife, Celeste, where he can turn things around "No more secrets, no more lies." Oh man. No, he died like a dog, in the dark by the river and dumped there, 25 years after two other predators fed on him. He never had a chance.
The story is what's really sticking with me, though. It's about three kids (who grow up to be Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins) who are playing one day, a car pulls up and a guy steps out pretending to be a cop, and intimidates the Tim Robbins kid (Dave) into the car, where another guy waits. They take him off for four days of hell--he's able to escape, but the neighborhood consensus is that he's "damaged goods." Flash-forward to 25+ years later, and the three now-grown men lead largely separate lives, until Sean Penn's (Jimmy) daughter is murdered--Kevin Bacon (Sean) is a state cop who's investigating the murder, and Dave is a suspect. Jimmy starts his own investigation with his neighborhood boyos...who lead him to Dave. They get him drunk and then take him out back of the bar, and Jimmy basically orders him to confess. He knows Dave did it. He's telling Dave about how he killed another thug years ago because the guy ratted him out and sent him to prison where he was when his first wife was dying of cancer. He says "You do death alone, but I could've helped her with the dying part." Dave realizes what's happening--he's telling Jimmy what he did the night the girl was murdered, that he'd murdered a pedophile that he'd caught molesting a kid in his car, but Jimmy doesn't believe him. He orders Dave to confess, saying he'll spare him if he does. And Dave says yeah, I did it. Jimmy asks why. Dave says she reminded him of a dream of youth, of goodness, of purity. And Jimmy murders him anyway.
The next day, Sean (Kavin Bacon) comes by to tell Jimmy they found the killers, a couple of kids fooling around with a gun and things just happened. And he needs to speak to Dave about the body of a confirmed child molestor that was also found. The look on Jimmy's face...Sean asks him "What did you do, Jimmy?" in these despairing tones.
You do death alone.
Dave never had a chance. The title is the clue--fate is as inevitable as the river--Dave's fate was writ large as soon as the guy from the car picked him to abduct. He never had a fucking chance. Oh man. His last scene, where he begs to be left alive, he says he wants to be with his wife, Celeste, where he can turn things around "No more secrets, no more lies." Oh man. No, he died like a dog, in the dark by the river and dumped there, 25 years after two other predators fed on him. He never had a chance.
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-08 03:44 pm (UTC)Even the scenes where it's sunny still seem cloudy.
Powerful cinema.
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Date: 2005-04-08 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-08 05:12 pm (UTC)Laura Linney's Lady Macbeth's type monologue at the end is riveting. (The only time I've really ever like her, except Tales of the City). Clara, read the book. I think you will enjoy it.