I've been filling my blog and clogging your feeds with reviews today. Don't find me boring but... I'm bored. Anyway, it's dawn already and I just finished watching this. I can't wait for the sun to be fully up before I get to write about it.
Tim Robbins as the traumatized Dave Boyle
Kevin Bacon as the detective, Sean Devine
Sean Penn as the ex-con, Jimmy Markum
I have but to see another Clint Eastwood direction before I could declare whether he's a real artist or a poseur and more of a popular entertainer. Undoubtedly, this movie caught me and its message made me think of the inevitability of violence in our lives and how karma kicks masked. The massive, surprising twists in the story are depressingly pleasing. Just when you thought you've solved the mystery of whodunit, it goes behind your back and stabs you. Well, the story simply shows the reality of how violence begets violence and how you put your trust on someone. How you put your trust on authorities upon looking for answers; how you trust your traumatized and almost insane husband insofar that your marriage and his safety is put to the test; how you trust someone upon telling the truth. It shows the fact that there is really no certainty of something until you undergo a long process of proving it. This movie exhibits the truth that people, most of the time, desire for revenge but only a few risk-takers pursue. It's in us to seek for revenge, even when we say it only goes far in our minds. I'd say, uhm, human nature? Anyway! This is the movie that will have you yelling at the TV by the end! It's depressing but it's supported by a veeeery flamboyant storyline and a fitted, powerful cast. Sean Penn, as always, was at his best in this film. This is not your ordinary thriller. And, is it just the Grey's-Anatomy-infatuated me, or does Sean Penn kinda looked like McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) here???
