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Jimmy can exact his own backstreet justice. These clues lead to somewhere that surprise him, as he deals with the true men his two childhood buddies have become.

Director Clint Eastwood paints a very somber picture of these men and the course their lives have taken after a very traumatic experience. They are interwoven and therefore destined to be connected forever - even through death.

Especially through death.

And I was with all of them until Laura Linney's lengthy 'Lady Macbeth' speech to Jimmy as his wife Annabeth. In his darkest hour, she becomes his cheerleader to reward the bad choices he had made - justifying them under the guise of love and loyalty. Given she had basically played a very limited role in the story up until this point, it seemed out of place with the rest of the movie.

If they were trying to excuse Jimmy, to make us sympathetic, it was unnecessary. Once he recognized the true consequences of his behavior, that was the most sympathetic moment we had in a long line of many. Brian made sure that even if we couldn't agree or maybe wanted him to stop him from doing what he ultimately did, we understood where he was coming from every step of the way.

He was a father who dealt with his pain in the only way that he knew how.

Ultimately, however, that way was wrong. Even an empathetic audience realizes that it required some sort of penance - emotionally if nothing else. I personally needed him to fully recognize that, considering the tragic way the story was resolved.

Jimmy not only stayed the same, he had no real reason to ever change despite the gravity of his greatest error.

Despite this fairly minor complaint, the story of "Mystic River" is haunting and will stay with you long after you've seen it, certainly an accomplishment for all involved.

A-

Learn more about this author, Ginger Voight.
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