Yes, it won or was nominated for a boatload of the 2003 awards. Even so, Mystic River is a decent movie. Not a great one, though, and I think the two Oscars to Penn and Robbins were more a result of not so strong competition; then again, Return of the King should have gotten more than the 11 Oscars it did.
Somewhat of a murder mystery, this film attempts to be more an exploration of what a tragic childhood event might mean to the lives–dare I say psyches?–of three boys from a blue collar Boston neighborhood, played as adults by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon. The ending doesn’t answer the core question all that well and I do wonder if Dennis Lehane’s novel does it better, particularly since the screenplay was written by the less than stellar Brian Helgeland.
Clint Eastwood directed, but does not appear onscreen, and his oevre is hit and miss. Unforgiven , Play Misty for Me, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil were terrific films but what about dreck like Space Cowboys, The Rookie, and The Bridges of Madison County? I don’t see much value added from his hands in this one. For instance, he uses a recurring motif of panning from the ground up to blank, generally grey sky. Wow, that’s a psychovisual for you!
Still, my qualms are mainly in reaction to the abundance of awards and hyped reviews accorded to Mystic River that I think are based on the original novel’s reputation, Eastwood and Penn, and the topical, touching subject of the childhood tragedy instead of what’s in the celluloid. I did like this movie.
recommended
BillSaysThis 