Mystic River
Published July 08, 2004
The character of Whitey Powers (a great performance by Lawrence Fishburne) is annoyingly absent in these last scenes. Anyone who sees the film will know that he would have been determined to bust Markum for his murderous error yet...nothing(?)
Minutes later in another scene, Markum's white-trash wife gets horny and beds her tit of a husband, telling him how incredible he is because he topped someone who he THOUGHT, albeit incorrectly, had killed their daughter(?) Granted a secondary theme that runs throughout the drama is how the three wives of the main characters react and deal with the violence their husbands are affected by and perpetrate. However, this scene is a misplaced piece from a mob drama that shows the twisted psyche of women who are turned on by dangerous men. It simply has no place here.
As the movie ends, Markum, his freshly fucked whore of a wife and a few of his scum flunkies descend into the street to watch a parade that is passing by. Markum is shown bathed in sunlight, a beatific glow on his face. The horror of his slaughtered daughter that had driven him to scream in anguish to the gods for the duration of the film all but forgotten. A strange finale to this movie.
The only angle I can see that the director was trying to play was perhaps to point to the selfishness of Markum, essentially a two-bit punk who in middle age is still dabbling in petty organized crime and using violence to control others. Were those tears he was crying during the previous scenes really for himself? Perhaps but it doesn't wash with the overall tone of the film nor is it believable within the parameters established.
If it was done to increase the sense of pathos one feels for the downtrodden and truly pathetic character of Boyle and to highlight the inexplicable turns in life that never follow the paths we would like, then it fails.
In fact this had been accomplished superbly throughout the film but the asinine afterthought of the resolution tarnishes and leaves the audience shaking their heads.
Despite the criticisms, this is a film worth seeing. Grief, revenge, the vagaries of chance, the wide-ranging consequences of actions--these are all themes that are hammered home in a convincing and often haunting way.
"You may be finished with the past, but the past ain't finished with you, motherfucker."
©Copyright Lenny Finkleman 2004.
- Mystic River
- Published: July 08, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Crime, Video: Drama, Video: Suspense and Mystery
- Writer: Finkleman
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Comments on this articleComments
I liked the simile where Tim Robbins' character compares being a victim of sexual abuse to being bitten by a vampire--that it is always in you and that you become the monster yourself (at least his character struggled with it). I don't know where it originated, but I found some articles about Vampire Syndrome that dismissed it as a myth--dismissed the notion that there is a cycle of the abused becoming the abuser. The majority of sexual abuse victims do not go on to sexually abuse others. A lot of sexual abusers, however, do claim to have been sexually abused as children, but the actual percentage of abusers who were abused is in doubt (some sexual abusers excuse their crimes by fictionalizing victimhood). See the study, "Sexual Victimization and Sexual Delinquency: Vampire or Pinocchio Syndrome?", for more information.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that sexual abuse victims should get help. Tim Robbins' character does show how such a tragedy can haunt a person for the rest of his or her life. It haunted the lives of his two friends as well. Despite the movie's crappy ending (I agree with you completely), it does a good job of making one think about the effects of sexual abuse, although it seems to perpetuate the myth of the vampire syndrome.
Mystic River reminds me of Affliction, also a good movie, which deals with the effects of physical abuse on people from childhood through adulthood.
jean penn is the only one who could play this roll since he is such a mindless punk mother fucker.
this is a great review and i agree with so much of what you say. It's funny, i was just going to review this film today and maybe i will for my own site anyway - i've been watching it since i own the DVD. As someone else noted, the vampire image is strong because sexual predators are like soul predators - hence the term soul murderer. They suck the life out of their victim and leave them grave-risen and half dead, moving through life with this awful trauma to contend with. You can survive, but it's work. Dave Boyle, sadly, it seemed recovered enough but the trauma was always right there as if sitting on his shoulder. He could, as he said, "go off" at any moment.
Sean Penn is well cast because he always was a punk, but he is also, in my view a superb actor. The way he portrays his grief is absolutely unbelievable and strong and convincing, and that comes from some depths.
Well: you said the rest. Thanks for this and great job.
Sadi
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Very passionate and articulate review, Lenny. Thanks and welcome!