I’ve watched several DVDs in the last couple of weeks, but haven’t had a chance to mention them. I’ve seen Mystic River, Just Cause and Ray. The first two were thrillers and Mystic River and Ray both took a slew of Oscar nominations and several acting wins between them. Yet none of these would make my list of favorite movies.
Mystic River was probably the best of the bunch. It was a murder mystery set in modern working class Boston, but the story was more about how the investigation into the murder of a teenage girl intersects with the life of a guy played by Tim Robbins who had himself been kidnapped and abused as a child. The girl’s father, a local crminal identity played by Sean Penn, wrongly believes that this guy killed her, and murders him in revenge. Pretty nasty stuff. Penn got the Oscar for lead, but I was underwhelmed by his work. Tim Robbins was more deserving of the Supporting Oscar he won.
Just Cause was a similarly nasty story about murder and mayhem, starring Sean Connery and Lawrence Fishburne. As thrillers go, this had plenty of dramatic tension, but I just don’t usually find this kind of stuff entertaining unless there is something deeper to think about. One redeeming aspect of this movie was a great piece of supporting acting by Ed Harris, who is always outstanding (Pollock, Apollo 13, The Truman Show) I think he has more talent than the rest of the cast put together.
I was pretty hopeful about Ray, partly because I’d heard good reviews, and also because Ray Charles, whose life the movie is about, was such a great muscial talent. Yeah it was interesting to see his battle against poverty, blindness, the loss of his mother and brother and heroin. He had a pretty sordid life, yet I guess we’re supposed to conclude that he redeemed himself by kicking his heroin habit. Well maybe. We really don’t see enough of his later life to have any idea whether he changed his immoral lifestyle. Then again, maybe that’s not a story that Hollywood thinks is relevant.