A FILM TO REMEMBER: “MYSTIC RIVER” (2003)

Before I get into this, I want to make mention “A FILM TO REMEMBER” will be a series about films that have reached a milestone anniversary since their origin in being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The articles will contain the film’s plot outline, director, cast, a compilation of trivialities, various photos, movie trailer, critical reception and more. So, let’s start:

We are here to mark the celebration of the 15th Anniversary of Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River”. Let’s take an inside look at the film.

PLOT OUTLINE:

The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them has a family tragedy.

STUDIO:

Warner Bros. Pictures

DIRECTOR:

Clint Eastwood

CAST:

• Sean Penn … James “Jimmy” Markum
• Jason Kelly … Jimmy Markum — Young
• Tim Robbins … Dave Boyle
• Cameron Bowen … Dave Boyle — Young
• Kevin Bacon … Detective Sean Devine
• Connor Paolo … Sean Devine — Young
• Laurence Fishburne … Detective Sergeant Whitey Powers
• Marcia Gay Harden … Celeste Samarco Boyle
• Laura Linney … Annabeth Markum
• Tom Guiry … Brendan Harris
• Spencer Treat Clark … “Silent Ray” Harris, Jr.
• Andrew Mackin … John O’Shea
• Emmy Rossum … Katie Markum
• Jenny O’Hara … Esther Harris
• Kevin Chapman … Val Savage
• Adam Nelson … Nick Savage
• Robert Wahlberg … Kevin Savage
• Cayden Boyd … Michael Boyle
• John Doman … Driver
• Tori Davis … Lauren Devine
• Jonathan Togo … Pete
• Will Lyman … FBI Special Agent Birden
• Ari Graynor … Eve Pigeon
• Ken Cheeseman … Dave’s Friend
• Michael McGovern … 1975 Reporter
• Kevin Conway … Theo (uncredited)
• Eli Wallach … Mr. Loonie (uncredited)

GENRE(S):

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

TAGLINE:

The river has many depths. Let it wash over you.

The film is known for being a tale of tragic misinterpretation that meticulously recreates a detecting pursuit and moments of pure unadulterated grief accent this whodunit feature with a methodical, riveting and emotionally charged exploration in the quirks of fate that make us who and what we are. Director Clint Eastwood guides without a trace of showiness in this dark, fathomage, atmospheric adult fare with psychological undertones, that is highly complex, haunting and tantalizing with an ensemble cast of exquisitely galvanizing performances led by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Marcia Gay Harden. The film is based from the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, it garnered widespread critical acclaim in being Eastwood’s most profound directorial work since “Unforgiven” in this leisurely paced, intensely grim, compellingly textured, Shakespearean scope crime thriller.

Here’s what some of the critical receptions have been for the film over the years:

Eleanor Ringel Cater from Atlanta Journal-Constitution says: “Eastwood has handed Penn the role of a lifetime, and the actor scorches the screen with his anguish and angry vengefulness.”

David Ansen from Newsweek says: “Violence and revenge have been a staple of Eastwood’s work from the beginning, but here he explores his subject from a new, more ambiguous angle, with no regard for macho titillation.”

Liam Lacey from Globe and Mail says: “The acting throughout is exceptional, rooted in observed realism, but suggestive of more mythical agents at work through the lives of human beings.”

Jonathan Rosenbaum from Chicago Reader says: “Too depressing to fill audiences with delight, but it does seem to validate questionable attitudes, especially an indifference to the suffering of innocent people and a willingness to shoot first and ask questions later.”

Rene Rodriguez from Miami Herald says: “Deals with themes Eastwood has often explored before, but never so delicately or with as much sad wisdom: The way in which our past haunts our present, the lasting repercussions of violence and the cruel inexorability of fate.”

As you can tell by the critical reactions, the film was held in much regard though it did have some faults with some pundits claiming it not to be insightful of it’s subjects, heavy-handed and even anti-climatic in its conclusion. Consensually however, it’s an adult rich drama layered in emotional and cerebral textures that improves on its source material, anchored by a bonanza ensemble cast with the subtly devastating performances all-around, most notably from Penn, Robbins and Harden. Eastwood delves in with a crisp maturation and visually astute look into familiar ground exploring themes of good and evil, guilt and innocence, anger and revenge in asking many questions but avoiding the easy the answers in this powerful tale of a crime, guilt and punishment, tragedy stricken drama. But I’ll let you decide…

So, to get a better look at the film, here’s a link to the movie trailer of Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River”:

Here I have provided 12 interesting and intriguing trivia facts (I wanted to keep it limited) about “Mystic River”:

• The situation at the opening of the movie is based on an incident when, as a child, author Dennis Lehane’s mother castigated him for getting into a car with men who claimed to be plain-clothes policemen.
• The studio executives at Warner Brothers wanted director Clint Eastwood to shoot the film in Toronto, Canada to save money. Eastwood refused and pushed to have the film completely shot in Boston where the film is set.
• Michael Keaton was originally cast as Sean Devine. He had done several script readings with the rest of the principal cast, and he had been doing research for the role with the Massachusetts State Police Department, and living in Boston for several weeks. A month before principal photography was to start, Keaton and Clint Eastwood got into a huge argument, and Keaton left the project. A week later, Kevin Bacon was cast in the role which is who Eastwood actually wanted for the role originally.
• While researching his character’s occupation, Kevin Bacon had worked in the office of the Massachusetts State Police.
• (At around 5 mins) In the beginning of the film when a young Dave is thrown into the backseat of the car, a man in the front seat turns around and flashes his ring — a bishop’s ring. The novel never indicates that the character was a priest, but it was added to the film since the filming was right in the middle of the priest scandal in the Boston Archdiocese.
• Forest Whitaker was the original choice for Whitey Powers and almost accepted, but had to back out due to other conflicts. Laurence Fishburne was eventually cast in the role.

• (At around 1hr. 15 mins) The liquor store scene was shot at Costello’s, a liquor store on Boylston Street in the Back Bay, next to Berklee College of Music. After filming, screen shots from that scene were placed in the front display windows. Costello’s closed in January 2007.
• More than 2,000 people who wanted to be extras in the film showed up at the Boston Teachers Union on September 14, 2002, for the open casting call. Carolyn Pickman of Collinge-Pickman Casting told The Boston Globe a week later that about two-thirds of those trying out would be called to fill a church and a local bar, play spectators at a parade, or walk through other scenes. All types of people from the greater Boston area (and as far away as New Hampshire) attended the call, where they waited in long lines to eventually hand in their applications and get their pictures taken.
• In Dennis Lehane’s novel, the surname of the characters of Jimmy and his family is Marcus, however in the film, it is Markum.
• (At around 1hr. 15 mins) Eli Wallach appears uncredited as a liquor store owner in his first film with Clint Eastwood since “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966), Wallach claimed that he filmed his scene in one take and without a single word of direction from Eastwood, who had such confidence in his acting that merely knowing his lines would be enough.
• (At around 33 mins) For the scene where Jimmy wails and thrashes in anguish at the discovery of Katie’s body, Sean Penn requested that a tank of oxygen be standing by after he finished the take.
• Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon were Clint Eastwood’s first choices for their respective three lead roles.

To conclude, Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River” is a somber dramatic thriller that unfolds in richly crafted layers and conveys the hardship of its narration with visceral and intrinsic power. Clint Eastwood’s stripped-down approach allows himself to scrutinize his characters as they are forced to dig into themselves in this deeply ambiguous character study of lifelong ties, moral accountability and the windfall of destiny that brings a grippingly felt and haunting tale pillared by a top-rate ensemble cast and superb performances particularly from Sean Pean, Tim Robbins and Marcia Gay Harden. The film carries its full weight and darkness within a fluid, fertile and moody visual passages dripping with heart, anguish, passion, tension, compassion and rage of a profoundly Bostonian, victims-of-circumstance, crime thrilling yarn in a grand rippling-effect tragedy.

NOTE: The article contains sources from IMDb and Wikipedia.

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