It's tempting to categorize Clint Eastwood's Mystic River as a guy's weepie wrapped around a murder detective/thriller: 4 characters, most of them men, break down and sob in the course of this film.

But what's even more interesting is the recurrent theme of powerlessness. Each of the three boyhood friends from Buckingham Flats, now grown into men, has a moment when he is completely incapable of enforcing his will. Dave, of course, has his will ripped away from him by childhood abductors. (Whitey says he seems to be "always back on his heels.") Jimmy, for all his local thuggish power, cannot protect his daughter, nor can he achieve absolution for himself or his daughter's killer. And most surprisingly, detective Sean explodes in the interrogation room when he cannot extract a key piece of information from a suspect.

Even in the remarkable closing street parade sequence, there is impotence. Celeste catches sight of her (and Dave's) son Michael on a float, and frantically follows him down the street, calling his name, while Michael, never the ballplayer his father was, rides listlessly by. Meanwhile the remaining lead characters look on, separated by a river of noise and people.

Tim Robbins does outstanding work as the man-child Dave; flinty Laura Linney is almost completely submerged into the character of Annabeth. Eli Wallach (uncredited) steals his scene as a liquor store owner who supplies a critical clue.

Eastwood's choice of images stops just this side of heavy-handedness: Dave is associated with light, and Jimmy with darkness. Much has been made of the screenplay's resemblance to classical tragedy, but the movie just doesn't stand up to the comparison. Instead, call it a steady character-driven mystery and be content with that.

posted: 9:22:29 AM