Mystic River

[Benny Profane]

See it. Twice.

[Steven S. Dallas]

Really? You think? I wasn't that stoked on it. I thought that the performances were good/great (Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon for sure), but that some of the themes were laid on a little thick. Additionally, being a Boston dood, there were certain aspects that were geographically wrong that annoyed me. Such as, say, setting the movie in Southie but shooting it in East Boston. Like we're not going to notice!

On the other hand, everyone's accent was pretty good, especially Laurence Fishburne's. Only problem with that is, I've never met a black guy with a Boston accent. Didn't jibe.

[Benny Profane]

Hmmm....not from Boston, I was wondering about that accent thing. But, no matter, forest from the trees , and all that. That is one hell of a screenplay. Everybody is connected, and everybody is lying, mostly to each other, and as always, to themselves.

That wart on Penn's neck was distracting.

[Steven S. Dallas]

Definitely a lot of cool themes, and I agree that it was really well adapted from the book. I think I was just expecting too much. Plus, I thought that the scene at the end with Sean Penn and his wife was kind of a WTF? moment. It made it seem as though she was somehow manipulating the situation, and if that's a part of the story I would have wanted to see it earlier. Or maybe I missed something earlier because of the jackasses behind me who wouldn't shut up.

[PhishingME]

Great movie! It was shot in southie, but I guess they needed to give it the eastie vibe since I think the book is actually set there.

Whatever, a must see.

[Mountain Junkie]

Originally posted by Alex P. Keaton
I thought that the scene at the end with Sean Penn and his wife was kind of a WTF? moment.

I had the same exact reaction. When the hell did she turn into the uber-bitch? After I saw the movie I read a few reviews, who described her character as a Lady Macbeth. Maybe I missed something earlier as well, because this seemed to come out of thin air.

[Steven S. Dallas]

The New Yorker capsule review, right? I thought the exact same thing reading that after I saw the movie. One of the reasons I went to see it in the first place is that David Denby didn't absolutely hate it, which is rare.

[MT]

Have not seen the flick yet, but the book is definitely worth a read if you get a chance.

[CantDog]

I thought it was a great movie, terrific performances by all. But the end was a bit of a let down, I feel like they could have brought the wife theme in earlier or left it out entirely. It felt like the last 5 minutes were added just for S&Gs, and didnt fit too well.

[gincognito]

Don't know if I saw this thread earlier, but I just posted in the main forum how I enjoyed my night of a crappy dinner and a crappy movie. The movie in question was Mystic River.

Something about it really bugged me. Yeah, the story was good, yeah the interconnections were kinda cool, and, yeah, the performances were pretty strong yadda yadda yadda. But I found the execution horrible. The music bugged me right from the get go. Seemed so out of place. And everything was just so damn heavy. No subtlety. All anguish and drama right there in your face. The car driving away, the daughter's look when she leaves Jimmy (yeah, that was explained later, but it was too late - I was already turned off). Too much.

I probably should read the book.

Sick and ashamed and happy (and wanted to announce quite loudly at the end of the movie "Well that kinda sucked"),
d.

[iceman]

Originally posted by gincognito
I probably should read the book.

I dunno, I wouldn't really recommend that. I could list a whole bunch of mystery writers I prefer to Denis Lehane. Yet he's getting rich. Go figure.

Alex, you never heard a black guy with a Boston accent? I find that odd. Beyond odd, actually.

Maybe you haven't gotten out of the Northeast all that much, I have no way of knowing. Two classic examples jump out: Mike Jarvis and Marvin Hagler.

Wicked Boston-soundin', those two (even though Marvin's from Jersey, originally).