Cry me a river

Not often, there are some extraordinary movies that, from the first few minutes, you know it’s going to stay with you for the rest of your life. One of these movies is Mystic River, the best film Clint Eastwood has ever made. (Yes, it is even better than Unforgiven.) Based on Dennis Lehane’s critically acclaimed novel, Mystic River stars a stellar cast of Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney.

The film begins with a brief prologue set in 1975, communicating the friendship of three 11-year-olds: Jimmy Markum, Dave Boyle, and Sean Devine. As the boys are playing street hockey in their impossibly classic Boston neighborhood, two suspicious-looking men claiming to be police officers catch the boys in a negligible act of vandalism, however, only taking Dave and driving off with him. Days later, he escapes and returns to the neighborhood, abused, molested, traumatized, and terrified, with one unanimous idea going through each of the three boys’ heads: their lives are changed forever. Twenty-five years later, Jimmy (Penn), Sean (Bacon), and Dave (Robbins) are reunited in the same Boston neighborhood, as Jimmy’s eldest daughter has been brutally murdered. Sean, now a detective, is assigned to the case with his partner (Fishburne). Shocking events then ensue, as Dave’s involvement in the crime is slowly revealed. But when Jimmy doesn’t think the law is giving his daughter enough justice, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

Director Clint Eastwood directs the film with such an honest, textured humanity, and squeezes every ounce of great acting from his exceptional cast. Penn completely stands out as the grief-stricken Jimmy, who gives an utterly believable, captivating, heartbreaking performance and should earn at least an Oscar nod for Best Actor. Robbins, playing Dave Boyle, the wide-eyed loser you hate from the beginning, deserves a Best Supporting Actor nod for his dark, passive performance. Bacon, on the other hand, gives the performance of his career, though he may be overlooked by the Academy. Gay Harden, as Dave’s timid wife Celeste, is incredibly painful to watch, and Fishburne is satisfactory. And Laura Linney, one of my favorite actresses, despite her relatively small role, is remarkably memorable as Jimmy’s wife Annabeth.

Mystic River is a greatly affecting and profound exercise of human darkness; a powerful tale about how fragile the human spirit is and how little it can comprehend. Eastwood amazes, and proves to be a superb filmmaker. River is the best-acted and most powerful film of the year; it will grab you by the throat and never let go till the final credits roll, still leaving evident emotional scars. It will burn itself into your mind. And it’s utterly amazing how something that looks so ugly and dark can blossom into something so beautiful.

Bottom Line: So far, 2003’s best film. A powerful, dark, incredibly well-acted tale; the only movie that can prevent The Return of the King from winning Best Picture.

Grade: A

Elf And Goliath

Finally, audiences have learned to tell a priceless – yet modest – holiday gem from a horrible – yet glitzy – Hollywood fake. Everyone expected Elf to downright flop at the box office, as it opened alongside money-hungry giant The Matrix Revolutions. However, the still-strong Elf just recently passed Revolutions in US ticket sales, $140 million as compared to the third installment’s $135 million. Sure, Warner Bros. is avoiding this fact, focusing on boasting Revolution’s record-breaking $200 million first-week worldwide intake. They just don’t want to admit the simple truth: their terrible film was stumped by a much better one.

Orphaned when his mother passed away, Buddy (Will Ferrell) crawled into Santa’s sack of toys one Christmas Eve as a baby and wound up in the North Pole, raised by elves his entire life. Three times taller than the others, he learns that he isn’t really just an abnormally tall elf but an actual human. He sets off for New York in search of his biological father (James Caan). However, upon meeting Buddy, the uncouth, greedy father doesn’t buy the story, throwing his son out. Buddy is then faced with a city of jaded, cynical New Yorkers who no longer believe in Santa, and he’s determined to put the spirit of the season back into their hearts.

Elf is a film you wouldn’t expect both you and your kids would enjoy. However, Ferrell proves to be the next comedic genius, pulling off hilarious – yet kid-friendly – laughs. Director Jon Favreau (Swingers) uses breezy, colorful strokes on his canvas to perfectly depict the picturesque quality of a New York Christmas, with David Berenbaum’s magnificently wholesome script.

Elf is definitely funny. Though it is also heart-warming, causing a few parents in the audience to shed a few tears, as we can all relate to Buddy’s fish-out-of-water predicament. Charming, touching and witty, Elf has a rare poignancy that, unlike other holiday comedies like Jingle All The Way, isn’t fake.

Bottom Line: The exact opposite of receiving coal from Santa. One of the year’s best comedies.

Grade: A-

To Do List Movies

• Watch Mystic River.

• Watch Elf.

• Don’t watch Good Boy!. Just because it’s good-natured doesn’t mean Good Boy! is actually good. This inane, unoriginal family comedy has a similar affinity to another certain generic kid-friendly film (Cats & Dogs). If you want to bring your kids to a wholesome movie even you can enjoy, see Elf. If you’ve seen it already, see it again. You know you want to.

CDs

• Listen to "In the Zone" by Britney Spears. All the "I’m not a girl, not yet a woman" blah Britney tried to express with her last – and disappointing – self-titled album have now officially vanished with her latest, In the Zone. (As if we needed the reminder. Remember the Madonna liplock?) Definitely way more mature than Ms. Spears’ previous efforts, "Zone" is more Kylie Minogue-ish than Hilary Duff; a sexy, pulsating dance disc that further pushes Brit’s image as the former-schoolgirl-in-pigtails-turned-horny-sex-goddess. The album’s carrier single, Me Against the Music is catchy, if not too busy; (I Got That) Boom Boom is likewise; the R. Kelly-produced Outrageous is vibrant. The Hook Up is fun and addictive; Shadow is a breezy return to her pop roots; and Brave New Girl is refreshingly zesty, while Everytime is an interestingly touching contrast to the rest of the album, with its delicate piano and evident post-Justin lyrics. "In the Zone" does everything right, what Brit and her producers should’ve done way back: They understood that she doesn’t have a great voice, and they didn’t try to exploit it. They just used her voice as moans, groans, and whispers in the background as they let the music create an extremely danceable, catchy, fun, addictive album. However, here comes Brit’s new little dilemma: Who to kiss next? My answer: Paris Hilton!

* * *

For comments, questions and suggestions, e-mail me at lanz_gryffindor@yahoo.com.