Mystic River
Feb. 1st, 2004 09:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
in_the_blueOK, so I didn't catch it the first time around, bad dog. But I did see it last night.
I like Clint Eastwood as a director now, and I almost always have. His films are moody and slow and the characters build very well and the cinematography alone is usually worth a view. I can see why this one is Oscar bait: from the very creepy beginning to the sadness shoved in your face all along as you watch. The cast is outstanding and I expect that from Sean Penn (who looked for all intents and purposes like a junior DeNiro in this one). The one who surprised me the most in this film was Marcia Gay Harden; she absolutely shone in her role.
I hate giving plot spoilers, but okay, I will. The crux of the story is this: Sean Penn's 19-year-old daughter turns up missing on the day of her sister's first communion and is found murdered later on that day. All signs point to it being one of Penn's childhood buddies (Tim Robbins), who at age 11 was abducted by two men and held and abused for four days before he could escape. The unraveling of the plot from there on, however, is the true story, and it's all character interaction.
The movie was filmed in Chelsea, Mass., which still looks exactly like it did when I lived in Boston, so I have that immediate affinity for it. All the characters are so true to type, and the pain that turns to steely resolve over loss and continued loss makes this a very difficult film, but an excellent one. It's bleak and depressing, and not a film I'll probably ever watch again... but I'm glad I saw it. Hard to watch, harder to take, but well worth the price of the ticket.
Kind of makes me think it's one of those actors' favorites because of its intensity.
In other news... thanks![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sff_corgi for the screen caps; I hope to have a Spike mood set soon enough. And to anyone who's waiting for me to beta their fics, today's the day, I have till around 3 and then it's football-shrine day. I'm not the big football fan, but Mitch certainly is, and this is his team in the big game.
~end for now~
I like Clint Eastwood as a director now, and I almost always have. His films are moody and slow and the characters build very well and the cinematography alone is usually worth a view. I can see why this one is Oscar bait: from the very creepy beginning to the sadness shoved in your face all along as you watch. The cast is outstanding and I expect that from Sean Penn (who looked for all intents and purposes like a junior DeNiro in this one). The one who surprised me the most in this film was Marcia Gay Harden; she absolutely shone in her role.
I hate giving plot spoilers, but okay, I will. The crux of the story is this: Sean Penn's 19-year-old daughter turns up missing on the day of her sister's first communion and is found murdered later on that day. All signs point to it being one of Penn's childhood buddies (Tim Robbins), who at age 11 was abducted by two men and held and abused for four days before he could escape. The unraveling of the plot from there on, however, is the true story, and it's all character interaction.
The movie was filmed in Chelsea, Mass., which still looks exactly like it did when I lived in Boston, so I have that immediate affinity for it. All the characters are so true to type, and the pain that turns to steely resolve over loss and continued loss makes this a very difficult film, but an excellent one. It's bleak and depressing, and not a film I'll probably ever watch again... but I'm glad I saw it. Hard to watch, harder to take, but well worth the price of the ticket.
Kind of makes me think it's one of those actors' favorites because of its intensity.
In other news... thanks
sff_corgi for the screen caps; I hope to have a Spike mood set soon enough. And to anyone who's waiting for me to beta their fics, today's the day, I have till around 3 and then it's football-shrine day. I'm not the big football fan, but Mitch certainly is, and this is his team in the big game.~end for now~
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no subject
Date: 2004-02-01 09:42 pm (UTC)