I went to see "Mystic River" for two main reasons: Sean Penn and Clint Eastwood. Of course there were a few other reasons, among them Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden. But I have learned as a movie critic not to be fooled by all-star lineups. I tried not to get too excited about "Mystic River" before I saw it.
The film opens with three boys playing hockey on the street in a Boston neighborhood. When their ball goes down a drainage pipe, they turn to the wet concrete on the sidewalk and decide to carve their names. Jimmy, the tough leader of the group, goes first. Then Sean. Dave, however, only gets the first two letters of his name written before they are stopped by two men in a black car. The men claim to be cops and take Dave away for destroying municipal property. The men are not cops, but child molesters, and they keep Dave for four days before he escapes.
Now the film cuts to the present day. We see each boy, now adults, in their daily lives. Jimmy (Sean Penn) is an ex-con gone clean, running a convenience store to support his wife, Annabeth (Laura Linney) and his three daughters. Sean (Kevin Bacon) is a cop whose pregnant wife left him six months ago. Dave (Tim Robbins) is married to Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden) and walks around still marred by his experience of sexual abuse.
The men are no longer close friends, but a tragedy soon brings the three of them back together. Katie, Jimmy's eldest and favorite daughter, is dead. She was taken from her car, murdered, and left in the park. That same night, Dave comes home at three in a morning, cut badly and covered in someone else's blood. He tells Celeste he fought off a mugger and probably killed him. Celeste believes him -- at first.
The story moves on as Sean, the policeman on the case, and his partner Whitey (Laurence Fishburne), follow several leads. They interview everyone who saw Katie the last night she was alive, including her girlfriends, the boyfriend with whom she was planning to elope and Dave.
Jimmy is out for revenge and Dave is looking more and more suspicious. Even his wife believes he has killed Katie and moves out of the house.
Here is where my plot summary must end. The movie will take you down several paths of suspicion, and eventually lead you to the right one. The question is, can you figure out the truth before Sean, or worse, Jimmy does?
This movie is much more than a murder mystery. Yes, the plot is great and will draw you in from the opening scenes and keep you enthralled until the closing credits. But what is just as interesting as the story is the characters themselves. The five main actors just happen to be five of the most talented in Hollywood. They take these characters and make them real -- a difficult thing to do in a movie that is so plot-driven.
Sean Penn is amazing as the good-bad guy character. He is an ex-con that you can't help but love. He is ruthless with most, but adores his family. Katie was the apple of his eye, and her death tears him apart. I found myself weeping at moments during this movie, watching the animal emotions that Penn is so adept at displaying. His performance is the keystone to this film.
Kevin Bacon, as always, is the perfect cop actor. This wasn't surprising, as it's a role we've seen him in before. The entire plot tangent with his estranged wife, however, is uncomfortable and unnecessary. Sometimes side plots work, sometimes they don't. This one does not.
Tim Robbins, for most of the movie, does an excellent job at playing an adult whose life is destroyed by a horrific episode in his childhood. There is one scene where he gets grossly out of character, but aside from that, his performance is convincing.
Finally, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney: Their billing may be below the men's, but their performances make up for it. Linney is the perfect mob wife -- tough but submissive to her husband. Harden is remarkable as the wife of a man she believes has committed murder.
Go see this film. Go see it for Sean Penn's performance if for nothing else. He won't disappoint you.
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