Mystic River, Twenty Years On

Mystic River – Twenty Years Ago this Month(!)

As hard as it is to believe, the Clint Eastwood film Mystic River was released twenty years ago this month. It’s not that I had that anniversary date looming anywhere on my horizon, but after finishing Dennis Lehane’s new novel, Small Mercies, last month, it came to mind. I decided to watch Mystic River (also penned by Lehane), twenty years on, to see how it has fared. Let’s take a quick look at Small Mercies first, though.

Small Mercies

Small Mercies, like many of Lehane’s novels, is set in South Boston, a neighborhood referred to as “Southie” by its residents. They’re primarily white, working class, and of Irish descent. They all know each other and will just as soon smack you upside the head as give you a hug, and will probably do both in the space of a couple of minutes. At the time of the story, which starts during the summer of 1974, the city is on the cusp of a true-to-life busing program to desegregate some of its schools, and Southie residents are on edge and pissed off.

Mary Pat Fennessy is the main character, a no-nonsense woman who brooks no argument from her teenage daughter, nor anyone else. She is tough as nails, knows how to throw a punch, and isn’t afraid to do so. Her Black co-worker, who she knows only by the name of Dreamy, loses her son, Auggie, in a mysterious incident in Mary Pat’s neighborhood. The same evening Mary Pat’s own daughter, Jules, goes missing, and Mary Pat’s world begins to implode. The movie is full of authentic language and mannerisms, and that Seventies feel familiar to many of Lehane’s works. As I read, I was reminded of Mystic River, and decided to give it another viewing to see if I liked it as much as I remembered from so long ago. As for Small Mercies, I highly recommend it if you like a slower, more character-based novel. The mystery of what happened to Dreamy’s son and Mary Pat’s daughter hangs over the story until the very end.

A Prolific Portfolio

You may be familiar with Dennis Lehane’s work, since he’s got a prolific portfolio that includes novels as well as film and TV credits. He wrote a few episodes of one of the best TV shows ever made (in my opinion, but it’s an opinion widely shared by many others), The Wire. Even if you aren’t familiar with his name or The Wire, I would hazard a guess that you have more than likely seen or read, or at least heard of, Shutter Island; Gone Baby Gone; or Motherless Brooklyn, which are all based on his novels of the same names. Lehane frequently, but not always, writes about Boston neighborhoods similar to the one where he grew up, Dorchester. Small Mercies takes place in South Boston; Gone Baby Gone takes place in Dorchester; and Mystic River is set in a fictionalized South Boston neighborhood called East Buckingham.

An Episode in the Mid-Seventies

Like Small Mercies, Mystic River starts off with an episode in the mid-Seventies involving three young friends, one of whom is forever damaged by his experience. Twenty-five years later, and the three don’t hang out but they are all still in the same neighborhood. Dave (Tim Robbins), who survived the traumatic experience from their childhood, comes home late one night covered in blood. He refuses to tell Celeste, his wife (Marcia Gay Harden), what happened. The next day, Jimmy (Sean Penn), learns that his teenage daughter from his first marriage, Katie, is missing. The third of the original three boys is Sean (Kevin Bacon), now grown and a local homicide detective. He and his co-workers discover Katie dead in a local park and Celeste begins to wonder if Dave was involved in the girl’s disappearance and death. Sean and Jimmy each try to solve the mystery in his own way (we’re talking a police officer and someone who seems to be well connected to the darker side of the town, so you can take a guess at what that means).

Has it Aged Well?

The pace of the movie is slow and thoughtful. Its cast can only be described as stellar. What amazed me as I watched was the caliber of all the performers and what long-lasting careers each of them has had (that and how young everyone looks but, hey, didn’t we all look fresh-faced twenty years ago?). The movie progresses to its tragic end – how could it not be a tragedy, with young Katie already murdered? – with what I found to be a surprising twist. Jimmy’s second wife, Annabeth (Laura Linney), and the mother of their two young daughters, not only stands by her man, but gives him a pep talk that reveals a truly evil nature which I hadn’t expected. So…has it aged well? The answer is a hearty yes! It’s well worth a viewing, if you haven’t seen it; or a second look, if you have.

A Film that Hasn’t Aged Well

Those of you who are signed up for my newsletter know that I mentioned the movie Dead Ringers, which I recently watched as part of our traditional October Scary Saturday Cinema. As I said in my newsletter, I believe it’s an example of a film that hasn’t aged well. I’m not sure it wasn’t problematic even when it was released back in 1988. David Cronenberg’s films are quite frequently freaky and uncomfortable (Crash comes to mind), but while characters getting off on car wrecks is disturbing, some parts were sexy as hell. I still remember Rosanne Arquette ripping the upholstery of a brand new Mercedes with one of her leg braces.

Deplorable Twins

Dead Ringers, though, centers around a pair of deplorable twins who happen to be gynecologists, so you can probably let your imagination run wild as to what shenanigans they are up to and not be too far off the mark. Played brilliantly by Jeremy Irons, I understand that the special effects related to showing him as twins were quite extraordinary at the time of the movie’s release. The movie starts with opening credits showing a series of anatomical drawings and various gynecological instruments which are disturbing, maybe because of the music that plays while they’re being shown. My first thought was, “Ugh, I’m not sure I want to watch this.” That feeling increased as the film progressed, with plenty of squirm-inducing moments.

While I can appreciate Jeremy Irons’ performance as he goes completely mad, I mostly kept thinking, “Why did it have to be gynecology?” I don’t know what it says about me that I was better able to handle the violent car crashes and body horror in Crash more easily than in Dead Ringers. Maybe it means I need some psychotherapy, pronto. But whereas Crash is a movie I would watch again, Dead Ringers is not. I had this nagging feeling that it was somehow…misogynistic. I will say that I was pleased to see an age-appropriate actress, Geneviève Bujold, as the object of the twins’ desire.

A Dead Ringer of its Predecessor?

There is actually a miniseries reboot of Dead Ringers out this year, starring Rachel Weisz as the twins. Is it a dead ringer of its predecessor? Well…I’m judging only from the trailer, but it does seem to come off as slightly less…uncomfortable…with two women playing the twins, even though they’re still gynecologists. I didn’t see what appeared to be any reference to the skincrawl-inducing “Gynecological Devices for Operating on Mutant Women,” but you can’t tell much from a trailer. I think it would be interesting to watch it to see how Rachel did playing twins but, honestly, I would probably spend my time on something else.

Have you seen any of the performances I talk about here? Are you a fan? Can you convince me to be a fan of Dead Ringers? Leave your comments below.

Does This Ever Happen to You?

Does this ever happen to you? You pick up a book and the date is the same as the current date. This has happened to me with the last four books I’ve read. Small Mercies ends in September 1974, and that’s when I finished it. Let the Right One in takes place in October, and I read it this month, with the book events matching the actual calendar date in present time almost day-for-day. And it’s happened with a couple of other books as well. I think it’s cool. Do you like reading books that are set during the same month(s) that you’re reading them? Does it enhance your reading experience, or does that not make any difference to you at all?

An Update on my E-reader

And finally…a quick update on my Pocketbook e-reader, which I wrote about last month. One of the features that I didn’t set up when I bought the e-reader was the one that allows you to send e-books to yourself through the “send to” function. I didn’t have the patience after trying to understand all the in’s and out’s of the device and the various accounts I had to create when I was first setting it up, so I had left this feature until a later date. After some minor fiddling, I was able to get the “send to” account set up. It was actually quick and easy. After creating the account through my e-reader, I received a confirmation email at my regular Gmail address. After confirming the account, the “send to” account was ready to receive books (files) at the device’s email address (in the case of PocketBook, it will be something @pbsync.com).

Libby, but not the Pumpkin Kind

Yum, Libby’s, and it’s pumpkin season, too. I hopped over to Libby (if you remember, I wasn’t able to do this with Hoopla) and checked out a book (this also involved setting up a Libby account, but that part was easy). The Libby online library allows you to download the checked-out book in an epub format, which is compatible with the PocketBook e-reader. I downloaded the file, then used my Gmail to send it to my PocketBook’s email address. It took a few minutes for it to sync, but then, there it was, ready to read. It had a due date of fourteen days later. I still don’t fully understand how the file “knows” to disappear from my e-reader (that is, get returned to the online library), but it has something to do with the way the licenses are set up. The convenient thing is you don’t have to remember to turn the book back in because it gets sent back automatically. All in all, it’s very cool, and I’m liking my e-reader more and more. I don’t think I’ll ever have all of my books and audiobooks in one place, but that’s okay.

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