Mystic River
What we have here is a clash of the diversive acting styles of Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, and surprisingly, Robbins comes out WAY ahead in terms of performance. Clint Eastwood directs with an eye for the unremittingly sober details of working class life in the city of Boston, and crafts a tale that comes and goes in terms of interest, and then completely blows the ending. Robbins owns the show here as a basket case of a man subjected to an unspeakable crime as a boy, but instead of going over the top, turns in a cerebral, sympathetic performance as a guy who never quite got things together as an adult (besides marrying the hot Marcia Gay Harden though). Penn, on the other hand, continues to show why he’s one of the most overly mannered, overrated actors of our generation, going too far with the little tics and hand gestures while throwing in a gratuitous little crying fit once in a while (personally whenever the guy emotes in a film, it usually turns into unintentional comedy for me, it’s just the way I roll). It doesn’t help that he’s teamed for most of the film with two extremely annoying brother characters who overact and come off as stereotypical street hood clowns. It really says something when Tom Guiry (as Penn’s daughter’s boyfriend) gives a better performance than the Oscar-winning star, but that’s pretty much what happens here. Bacon and Fishburne are a welcome presence as they manage to keep the story movng along in their scenes, allowing the movie to stop for character bits by Penn and Robbins. Harden does a fine job as Robbins’ wife, but sadly Penn is saddled with Laura Linney as his significant other, who along with an unconvincing Irish brogue, mostly comes across as the biggest bitch imaginable. Then there is the twisted morality of the film itself, particularly in the closing scenes (Bacon knows Penn has murdered an innocent man, and yet decides to do NOTHING?). The film ultimately peters out in the end, both unsatisfying and unappealing to the viewer. The film’s most bizarrely comedic high points come in the phone “conversations” between Bacon and his estranged wife, awkwardly wrapped up by the end. In closing, Robbins clearly deserved his Oscar for a fascinating, restrained performance, while Penn seems to have picked one up for little less than popularity reasons…
5/10