Point of View

MOVIE REVIEW

The Mystic River
An Extraordinary Masterpiece, Yet A Bitter Fruit
By Fred H. Arm

The usual Hollywood fare of violence in movies consists of serial car crashes, shootings, beatings, and knifings that most people are pretty much inured to emotionally. Mystic River, however, directed by Clint Eastwood, does not allow your senses to get off that easily. For many, there may be a disturbing price to pay.

The movie focuses on three men who live, love and die in the blue-collar old neighborhood of East Buckingham in Boston. The film opens on the trio as eleven-year old boys playing stickball in the streets. SEAN PENN plays tough-guy Jimmy Markum, KEVIN BACON is Sean Devine, and TIM ROBBINS is Dave Boyle, who is forced to take a ride with two pedophiles who would change all their lives forever. Dave ultimately escapes after a four-day ordeal, however, the emotional scars are there to stay.

Twenty-five years later, the three friends are thrust back together by another trauma—the murder of Jimmy’s 19-year old daughter. Sean, now a cop and his partner Whitey (LAURENCE FISHBURNE) are charged with solving this brutal crime. They must also stay one step ahead of Jimmy, now an ex-con, who is driven to find his daughter’s murderer.

Dave, now barely coping in a fragile marriage to Celeste (MARCIA GAY HARDEN), cannot exorcise the demons of his childhood ordeal. Sean is torn by old loyalties to Jimmy and Dave, yet doggedly gives no quarter in his quest for the truth.

The complex interweaving of the characters as we delve deeper and deeper into their psyches is both riveting and chilling at the same time. Eastwood brilliantly crafts such a heightened sensitivity and emotional involvement, that the effect soon evolves to become like an acid bath upon our nerve endings.

Jimmy’s wife, Annabeth (LAURA LINNEY) presents a chilling performance as a wife standing behind her man against all rational morality. Dave’s wife Celeste carries off much of the conveyed emotion by a simple nod or distressed look that is expertly communicated by this versatile actress.

Every actor, irrespective as to the minority of his or her role, is amazingly well performed and vividly portrayed. All this attention to detail adds immensely to the realism and emotional connection to each of the players. As the drama heightens to its climax, the brutality presented, although tame by objective contemporary cinematic standards, scorches the very fibers of one’s soul, feeling much like falling into ice water in the dead of winter. This is truly a masterpiece of filmmaking, however, for a sensitive and compassionate human being, a searing excursion into the bowels of angst and torment. I would certainly keep the gentle hearted and the children at home.

URBAN SPRAWL MAY BE ON ITS WAY HERE

City Council Oks Revocation Hearing
On the 23rd of September 2003, I brought the agenda item of the lack of proper notice and the issuance of an illegal variance to build upon a sub-standard lot at 130 East Scenic before the City Council. After much discussion and the input from some of you participating neighbors, we achieved a preliminary victory--the Council agreed to have the matter set for a public hearing to consider revocation of the permit before the Planning Commission on the 6th of November 2003. I would now once again enlist your help to speak before this Commission to demonstrate your support for this revocation action.

Proposed Ordinance May Bring Urban Sprawl To Pt Richmond
Sub-Standard Lots - Additionally, as many of you know, residents of the Pt. Richmond Community in the neighborhoods of Pacific, Buena Vista, Water, and Sante Fe streets, have been struggling not to let the City erode the 6,000 square foot minimum size lot zoning ordnance (SFR-2), which ordinance applies to most of the hilly region of Pt Richmond. Deputy City Attorney, Everett Jenkins, has informed me that the Planning Commission will have an open hearing on the over-all sub-standard lot issue. The Planning Department in conjunction with Richmond’s Community & Economic Development Department is eager to eliminate the 6,000 square foot minimum-zoning ordinance. The Commission has scheduled the proposed ordinance to be discussed at an open hearing on the 16th of October 2003, at City Hall.

Infill Program - It seems that there is much more to this October 16th meeting than I have previously learned from the City Attorney’s Office. Judy Battle, at the Planning Department, contends that the thrust of the hearing at the Planning Commission is the brainchild of Lisa Hamburger at the Community & Economic Development. It seems that the Planning Department has in concurrence with the City Council, been instructed to implement the low-cost housing “Infill Program” which will allow developers in the City of Richmond to develop sub-standard lots without needing a variance, design review or other traditional authorization. The plan goes something like this: The developer would select a home design from a number of inexpensive home designs, which have been previously approved by the Design Review Board. The building lots, which almost all are below standard zoning requirements, would be expedited through the planning department without all the usual hurdles and restrictions.

Urban Sprawl - Although low income housing is a worthy goal of the City, unfortunately, their blanket exemptions would allow the indiscriminate development of sub-standard lots, without public oversight, which would also include Pt. Richmond. Such urban sprawl would be a disaster for Pt. Richmond’s designated low-density areas and would likely undermine housing values.

Attendance At Hearings - It is imperative for members of the Pt Richmond Community to attend both these hearings. The more speakers from the community, the better chance we have of defeating the attempt by the Planning Department to trash the zoning ordinance for a 6,000 square foot minimum.

Hearing Dates - The staff report to the Planning Commission is confusing, ambiguous and perhaps misleading. Our presence en masse is necessary at this hearing on the 16th of October as well as the 6th of November to prevent the across-the-board evisceration of our protective zoning ordinances. If anyone would like to see this 20-page report, I would be happy to share it. It is rumored that the Planning Commission is not too pleased with the proposed action; however, I still do not trust them to do the right thing.