- Terms, Time Periods and Styles, Greek Tragedy: Definition, Characteristics & Plays, Detective Fiction: Definition, History & Authors, What Is Mock-Epic Poetry? Through the morally complex characters, the novel considers the lasting imprint of trauma and childhood friendships and evaluates the true meaning of loyalty and justice. What possible logical explanation is there for the kids to have beaten and shot this girl, then call 911 to alert the cops? Maybe there were other scenes in which she actually, you know, had lines or something that would make that ending a little more consistant. While we don’t see her behaving quite as badly as Lady Macbeth – she doesn’t actually convince or encourage Jimmy to kill anyone that we see – you come away with the notion that she would if she thought it would be necessary to protect her or her family. The very end...Jimmy (Penn) basically admits to killing Dave (Robbins) right to Sean (Bacon). Jimmy Marcus is an ex-con who owns a corner store. We wash them clean," so some viewers see something more "mystical" in the title and have likened it metaphorically to karma, that is, what-goes-around-comes-around. The novel revolves around three boys who grow up as friends in Boston — Dave Boyle, Sean Devine, and Jimmy Marcus. It feels overly-stylized and artificial, and Linney (who can be quite good) fails to make the scene work, IMHO. This whole scene seems to come out of nowhere and is not in line with the way Laura Linney acts in other parts of movie? I don’t get it. Remember, she is the sister of the Savage brothers. Jimmy tells Dave, "We bury our sins here (i.e. Though we know that Penn must be connected in some loose community-sense, she’s talking and behaving like she’s whispering into Scarface’s ear. Is the scene supposed to remind the audience of Macbeth and more specifically Lady Macbeth? When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. I may have missed this since the TV was low (my wife was sleeping), but why in the world would the murderers have made that 911 call? Nothing that Linney says feels natural or motivated by anything that’s come before it. With Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Emmy Rossum. But they still shot her (albeit accidentally), then chased her, beat her with a hockey stick and shot her again (I think) to make sure she couldn’t identify them. I don’t think that part of the movie works very well mind you, just that that’s how I read it. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled, The end of Mystic River [Unboxed Spoilers]. Answer and Explanation: The book Mystic River ends with Dave's death and subsequent discovery of Katie's killer. - Definition, Examples & Characteristics, Man and Superman by Shaw: Summary, Characters & Analysis, Comedy Genre: Definition & Characteristics, Milton's Paradise Lost: Summary, Theme, and Quotes, Psychological Realism in Literature: Definition & Overview, SAT Subject Test Literature: Practice and Study Guide, SAT Subject Test Mathematics Level 2: Tutoring Solution, SAT Subject Test Literature: Tutoring Solution, Common Core ELA - Literature Grades 9-10: Standards, Common Core ELA - Writing Grades 9-10: Standards, Common Core ELA - Language Grades 9-10: Standards, ILTS TAP - Test of Academic Proficiency (400): Practice & Study Guide, Praxis Social Studies - Content Knowledge (5081): Study Guide & Practice, Praxis Business Education - Content Knowledge (5101): Practice & Study Guide, Praxis English Language Arts - Content & Analysis (5039): Practice & Study Guide, FTCE Middle Grades General Science 5-9 (004): Test Practice & Study Guide, ILTS Science - Earth and Space Science (108): Test Practice and Study Guide, Biological and Biomedical I’m not sure what commentary Eastwood was making on the nature of retribution. It is deus ex cell phona, IMO. Even the connection between Sean Share. Questions and answers for Mystic River (2003). Its name comes from a Wampanoag word meaning "big river." Annabeth knew Jimmy was out and probably might kill Dave, and yet she did not call Jimmy to stop it from happening - she wants Celeste to suffer. In Mystic River, Sean and Whitey don't have a clue about the real killers of Katie until they finally listen to the 911 tape.Sean notices that the caller refers to the victim as a she, although he couldn't know that the victim is a girl since he saw only the car and the body was dumped in the park. :dubious: Again, I just don’t see this as a logical plot development. It was an ambitious film, deserving of respect, with much to offer. Make a one-page list that compares and contrasts how the book or film you find and Mystic River deal with social class. Everyone begins to suspect Dave, who was seen with the victim before the murder and then came home later with an injured hand and blood on his clothes, supposedly from a mugging. The Mystic River is the name of a river in Boston. Her husband had been running one of the most successful criminal teams in Boston before he was sent to jail by a weaselly little snitch, and he had the strength of character to be even more powerful. Just Finished Reading "Mystic River" by Dennis Lehane, and Quite Impressed. Simple. The novel is clear on this point: > “Last time I saw Dave,” [Jimmy] said, “was at my house last night.” He pushed Sean aside and crossed the street onto Gannon. Mystic ... s masterful adaptation and the book itself he felt his ... my ass in the end. Amazon.in - Buy Mystic River: A Novel book online at best prices in india on Amazon.in. Who is the master in The Master and Margarita? Somehow, he’s graduated from a neighborhood thug to an epic-sized kingpin, and not for one minute did I buy it. Her husband had been running one of the most successful criminal teams in Boston before he was sent to jail by a weaselly little snitch, and he had the strength of character to be even more powerful. Samuel Richardson: Biography, Pamela and the Epistolary Novel, Short Stories: Definition, Characteristics & Examples, Types of Fiction: Novels, Novellas & Short Stories, Tragedy in Literature: Definition, Characteristics & Examples, Stream of Consciousness in Literature: Definition & Examples, The Nightingale & the Rose: Themes & Analysis, Romanticism in Literature: Definition & Characteristics, What is Drama? Why does ... Read the book, it clears up a lot of motivations. I believe she was only married to the Penn character after he went straight. Since I had not seen the movie, I gave it a listen. I’ve been told that if you read the book her character makes a lot more sense. Lehane masterfully weaves the many dark and complex threads that run through the novel. The book Mystic River ends with Dave's death and subsequent discovery of Katie's killer. Lehane adopted the taste of reading with the little material that was available in his home and that it was an encyclopedia that his parents acquired through a seller on the streets. Just watched it last night. I was unsatisfied by the ending, all that “We’re in this together, aren’t we? It was developed not at all, yet at the end they reconcile. What's the Difference between Mystic River the Book and Mystic River the Movie? The only qualm I have is that the story was dragged out just a little too long, so as I was nearing the end I was getting a bit apathetic and losing interest in discovering who the killer was. ... At a time when New York’s mean streets were their meanest, one NYPD detective at the end … Dennis Lehane has had the kind of career most authors would kill for. One person found this helpful. Lack of evidence. Create your account. As the cops investigate the murder, several days go by. Read the book, it clears up a lot of motivations. But some of the dialogue was arch to the point of silliness. Just saw it for the first time a few nights ago on HBO. What is going on in the scene between Laura Linney and Sean Penn at the end of the movie? If anyone has read the book, does Jimmy get away with murdering Dave? All rights reserved. She’s contempuous of anyone who shows weakness or compassion or guilt – hence the scene at the very end with Celeste. Mystic River Discussion (spoilers) Cafe Society. © copyright 2003-2021 Study.com. Dennis Lehane grew up in a neighborhood full of violence and crime. Released in 2003, Mystic River writer Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island is a chilling mystery with a bombshell final twist that re-contextualizes the entire preceding narrative. When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. There are plenty of things to like about the film, but this one scene was a gross miscalculation. I also felt like Kevin Bacon’s sub-plot (with his wife) was woefully lacking. I picked up on the fact that the kids had done it about halfway through the book, but I was surprised about their motivations at the end… The resemblance to the English word mystic is a coincidence, which the colonists naturally followed. Like most of Lehane's novels, Mystic River is set in Boston, the city he grew up in and eventually returned to as an adult. Lehane had previously written a successful series of novels centered around two detectives named Angie Gennaro and Patrick Kenzie; Mystic River was his first stand-alone novel. Mystic River is a poignant exploration of human nature in the trappings of police procedural. She likes that. The film version starred Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, who both won Oscars for their roles, and Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne. Read more. A 2001 novel by Dennis Lehane, Mystic River was brought to the screen in 2003 by director Clint Eastwood.The film version starred Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, who both won Oscars for their roles, and Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne.. Years ago, Dave Boyle escaped with his life from mysterious men in Boston. Sciences, Culinary Arts and Personal If there’s one scene that completely removes me from the movie, this is it. The only thing that made this scene make any sense to me was the scene earlier with Annabeth’s father and Jimmy Markham (the Sean Penn character), when the father tells Jimmy (essentially) that Jimmy’s daughter’s dead and that his main responsibilty now is to take care of Annabeth and her daughters. She has contempt for her cousin because of her cousin has doubts about her husband (Tim Robbins). However, this situation did not stop him from becoming who he is today. She’s looking out for herself and her daughters above all else, and making sure that nothing gets in the way of that. Big Wolf is the name Dave gives Henry, one of the men who kidnapped him when he was a boy. friedo October 19, 2003, 9:18am #1. Paybacks create an endless cycle of destruction seemed to be a message. think that the ending of Mystic River was poor. They cut her part and the other woman’s part down consideralbly to make the movie. The book then moves forward 25 years: Sean has become a homicide detective, Jimmy is an ex-convict who currently owns a convenience store, and Dave is a shell of a man… Dave (Tim Robbins) reveals that he didn't kill Jimmy's (Sean Penn) daughter - he actually killed a child molester. When the story opens, Dave is abducted by child molesterswhile he, Sean, and Jimmy are horsing around on a neighborhood street. What happened to Tim Robbins on the night the crime had nothing to do with the murder of Sean Penn's daughter but was simply the wildest of disconnected coincidences. Celeste had suspicions that Dave was the one who killed Katie, and tells of this … All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. It’s a great scene and really chilling in my opinion. That I got. Ending / spoiler. I would say that Mystic River came as close to capturing that Boston neighborhood feel … The social learning theories emphasize on the importance of association in developing criminal behavior. He lived as he wanted to–and so what? Here is the place to find all that out. Years ago, Dave Boyle escaped with his life from mysterious men in Boston. Leave out your favorite character? IS ther a better explaination of this character is acting this way? A tense and unnerving psychological thriller, Mystic River is also an epic novel of love and loyalty, faith and family, in which people irrevocably marked by the past find themselves on a collision course with the darkest truths of their own hidden selves. Then why was Jimmy intact at the end? And then they called the cops to alert them to the fact that a crime scene required their attention. She knows her husband killed her cousin’s husband because of a mistake and she is getting off (sexually and in other ways) on this. The Mystic River is a 7.0-mile-long (11.3 km) river in Massachusetts, in the United States.In Algonquan, missi-tuk means "large estuary," alluding to the tidal nature of the Mystic. Even his daughter’s murder didn’t disrupt the integrity of his little hoodlum’s morality. In fact, I didn’t like the movie that much, but mainly that’s because I felt like there were a lot of story bits that weren’t connected to anything else. A 2001 novel by Dennis Lehane, Mystic River was brought to the screen in 2003 by director Clint Eastwood. What is going on in the scene between Laura Linney and Sean Penn at the end of the movie? answer! Question about Mystic River ending... (spoilers inside) spoiler. Now she feels he just needs to be told that it is all right to be himself. “I know in my soul I contributed to your death,” was as believable a line from Jimmy, a South Boston tough, as would have been, “To be or not to be.”.