The Egyptian
Joined: 16 Aug 2004
Posts: 2806
|
| Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:37 pm Post subject: Mystic River |
|
|
Mystic River
“The tragedy of life is that people do not change”
“The world is becoming a difficult place to live in – except for the strong” Hercule Poirot
Mystic River is another Eastwood’s film after Unforgiven that impressed me yet left completely disagree with it’s philosophy.
Dave ( Tim Robbins) is a victim doomed to be abused and assassinated.
Jimmy (Sean Penn) is a man who establishes his own rules and acts up to them
Sean (Kevin Bacon), a homicide detective, personifies The Law or (probably) an arbitrator..
The plot has many doublings: Dave gets into a black car twice and both times it results in his abduction and abuse. Interesting , that every time he is given a choice but he chooses to be a lamb taken to slaughter.
Jimmy kills twice. Again, he is given a choice and he chooses to kill, because he doesn’t know what mercy is. There is a logical progression in development of his character : after killing his former buddy Ray he tries to redeem his fault somehow by sending money to Ray’s family on monthly basis.
However, when he killed Dave and found out later that he is a murderer of an innocent, his regrets faded away quickly and the end of the movie reveals us Jimmy who is truly content with his life and his dubious morals .
The weakest part of this triad is not Dave, but Sean who is playing a pawn in a game between Jimmy and Dave. He is more an observer than an active player. Ironically, he is the only one who is more or less happy at the end of story.
Major idea of Mystic River, in my opinion, is that weakness is unforgivable trait of human nature and will be punished sooner or later. Law is an impotent observer unable to prevent conflicts, identify guilty and punish crime. Kings of life are people like Jimmy . His only burden is a cross tattooed on his back .
Still if I were Jimmy I would have thought of boomerang effect : everything you do will be paid back by fate.
Best performances : Tim Robbins and Laurence Fishburne.
Histrionic Sean Penn and dull faceless Bacon were rather disappointing.. |
|
