Poll Position: "Mystic River"

Last week we had another tie for our delicious Bacon Poll. Jim saw "Frost/Nixon" earlier today, and so I decided to check out “MysticRiver”. A movie packed to the brim with a talented cast. And better yet, the whole cast puts on that goofy New England accent that I adore. Nevertheless, I had to try my best to take this movie seriously for it is a dark crime/drama movies.

The movie circles around three childhood friends: Jimmy (Sean Penn), Dan (Tim Robbins) and Sean (Kevin Bacon). As they grow up, they also grow apart. Jimmy runs a small shop with his family, Dan is a blue collar worker with a dark history and Sean is a detective in the state of Massachusetts. But sadly Jimmy’s daughter Katie was brutally murdered and the same night Dan comes home with another person’s blood on his shirt. Sean immediately jumps on the case, but Jim has no faith in the police force and takes on the case himself.  

Both Sean and Jimmy hunt down Katie's killer. But who will find him first?

Now as much as I loved the acting in the movie by all the actors, including the wives of the three friends and Whitey Powers (Laurence Fishburne), Sean’s partner, and one thing bugged me. And that was Sean Penn when he gets angry. Now I think Penn is an amazing actor, he plays many roles and all very well. I loved him in “Milk” and my favourite movie with him is “I am Sam”. But whenever he gets mad and starts to yell, he reminds me of how he acted in “I am Sam”. The dad with the mental disorder persona. But other than that, he was dark and cynical when he needed to be.

Jimmy would do anything for his little girl.

And I don’t know what it is about Clint Eastwood, but that man can direct a movie. He has a certain flair that is always apparent in all of his directed movies. I generally don’t care all that much about art and cinematography, but he really can make a movie beautiful to watch. Also, the movie flows nicely. There isn’t an awkward break at all and never a time where the story needs to be retold using an exposition.

Dan won't forget that car ride

Great movies always have powerful scenes that leave the audience with that lingering feeling of wow. And “Mystic River” certainly has that. Not only did I not see the ending coming, but the way it sneaked up on me was nuts. It isn’t a twist that runs parallel with M. Night. But it is more subtle and a lot more rational than a bizarre twist. I don’t believe there was a happy ending, but it might of made it all the better.

The movie is great, there ins’t much I can say besides that. It has amazing acting, the plot is thick and will take you for a ride and the movie left me with a powerful punch to the face. Clint Eastwood sort of surprised me on how well this movie turned out to be. Really shows how skillful the man is, astonishing actor and a strong director. I guess this is an excuse to see “Million Dollar Baby”.