Mystic River DVD Review
Published June 10, 2004
Who would have thought that Dirty Harry himself would go on to direct one of best character-driven murder mysteries of all time? I don't think anyone could have believed, it even just five years ago. But, with some of the most talented actors and a superb script, Clint Eastwood put it all together for one of the years best.
Three childhood friends, Sean (Kevin Bacon), Dave (Tim Robbins), and Jimmy (Sean Penn), are split apart when a man acting as a police officer kidnaps one of their own. Years later, each have taken their own path. But, when Jimmy's daughter is brutally murdered, the three friends are all brought back together, each playing some role in the mystery.
This is one of the most well written movies I've ever seen. Every little piece of information necessary to the film is brought out in conversation. This is a movie you need to listen to carefully to really understand the characters and their actions.
All of this is helped by the stunning and believable performances by the entire cast. The film would go on to win two Academy Awards, one for Sean Penn, the other for Tim Robbins. Needless to say, they deserved it. Sean Penn especially brings out pure emotion in a few scenes that help make the entire movie seem more believable.
As if all of this wasn't enough, along comes an ending that will sweep in from out of nowhere and completely blind side you. There are minimal clues giving through the two-hour running time, but if your really paying attention, you have a small opportunity to figure it out.
The only real problem with the movie is that once you know the outcome, there is little reason to come back. The performances are certainly worth reviewing again, but sticking through it multiple times may prove difficult. Still, if there was anything holding you back from picking this one up at the video store, now you have no excuse. (**** out of *****)
Mystic River is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. A separate pan & scan version is available separately if for some reason your interested. The colors here are muted on purpose so nothing here will stun you. The contrast it set quite high and in a few sequences it's almost blinding. Still, compression problems and grain are minimal if not completely absent for the majority of the film. (****)
Matt Paprocki is the former reviews editor for Digital Press. The deep game collection, which spans nearly 30 systems and 2,000 games, lines his walls for research purposes. Matt strives to bring credibility to video game journalism, and to aid the industry in becoming respected with all forms of entertainment media. He currently freelances for GameArgus.com and MultiPlayerGames.com.
- Mystic River DVD Review
- Published: June 10, 2004
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- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Drama, Video: Crime
- Writer: Matt Paprocki
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I liked this too - but the Massachusett's accents were so far off - they made everyone in the state sound they like slightly retarded or something, and since I've lived there for quite a while, I can honestly say that the put-on accents by Tim Robbins and Laura Linney in particular, were so not on target that, unfortunately, that detracted from the main story, which was good. Lehane isa good writer, and it's interesting to see how he's grown from his early days when I hosted a reading thatincluded him at Waterstones (also, sadly defunct - bookstores everywhere seem to perish, and there's no room for the independents anymore, which is sad...)
But i liked this film a lot too - I just wish that the the daughter's character and relationship with her father (Penn) had been more developed - it would have made his grief more palpable, more believable. That said, I think Penn doesan outstanding job, and likely, the best performance that I've ever seen of him.
Kinda late, I just bought the video today...
The dialogs (at least at the beginning) were sort of disconnected and not flowing (vs what often happens in real life, where one person says "Hey Joe, how ya doin?" and the other (Joe) says "not bad, Pete").
I saw later that the scene with SP and his daughter was a "last moment together" scene so it maybe has to be forgiven, but hello? what 19 yr old daughter hangs on their dad's neck like a pseudo-girlfriend, kissing him on the nose and all that crap? Jees, she was prettty, but I'm glad she died, I couldn't have taken much more. The early scenes in SP's market were not smooth and natural and after that I stopped looking for smoothness at least in a dialog where two people might be expected to have a natural conversation...
I liked KB. He's getting better and better. TR was a caricature. I suppose they have to give the Academy Award to someone.
And whoever mentioned shitty Boston accents - oh my God! They had an accent tutor on-site, no? Someone who at least could have said "Repeat aftah me, Pahk the cah, etcetera"
Most scenes looked like they were done once and off to the editing room, so all the actors had to do was listen to any native say the line and then repeat it.
And the icing on the cake? Women. I don't know if it's Eastwood or the screenwriter or the author of the book, but gee whiz! One not-100%-sure-of-it woman turns her innocent hubby in to get killed, the other woman helps her husband who did it get over it by spouting some really cheesy "well, even his wife thought he did it, you can't be blamed" type sermon. How much did I have to keep reminding myself "you like Marcia Gay Harden, you like Marcia..."
God, at least Italian mafiosi get to live in a little style while they're stupid, this is just bad.
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"As if all of this wasn't enough, along comes an ending that will sweep in from out of nowhere and completely blind side you."
Blindside is a good word. Predicting how the plot will resolve itslef is impossible because the audience is never given enough information. Thats my big beef with this movie. Good movie yes, great movie hell no. I wouldn't buy this movie.