re:mote voices

Title: Mystic River
Cast: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Kevin Chapman, Emmy Rossum
Director: Clint Eastwood

adapted from the novel by denis lehane and directed by clint eastwood - eastwood's involvement having been a selling point for the reluctant lehane who didn't want to sell his work. the pacing and balance of this film are curious, it isn't a roller coaster, and it is not entirely gripping, which gives mixed results. the story revolves around three boys who were friends, until one of them was abducted. the ordeal that the one faced, and the guilt the other two felt, changed their relationship. now the three are grown up, one a reformed criminal, one a policeman, the third still coping with that abduction experience. one night dave comes home covered in blood, coming out with some strange story, and gradually breaking down as he relives that traumatic past. the same night jimmy's daughter doesn't come home, and is found to be brutally murdered. the circle being completed with sean being the police officer who is on the murder case. from there we follow as evidence is put together, a couple of suspects coming up, but the question of which did it remains until the end. the final conclusion has a certain inevitability, though the epilogue that comes after that provides a curious light on the whole thing and the morality of the actions taken.