Revenge is a dormant
theme throughout the movie, but is most apparent when Jimmy gets frustrated
over his daughter’s murder. Jimmy is emotionally distraught and grief-stricken
because he couldn’t even “cry for his own little girl”. He feels responsible
for failing as a dad, and greatly wronged so naturally wants revenge. After
confronting Celeste to get confirmation, he assumes Dave did it. When he takes
Dave to McGills for drinks before stabbing and shooting him to death during a
heated interrogation, he sets into motion a series of irreversible
consequences. By killing Dave, Jimmy not only breaks his promise to stop
killing men and throwing them in the Mystic, but also stops Dave’s healing from
past trauma. The irony in Jimmy’s terrible deed is he never needed to kill Dave
because Katie’s true killers (Brendon’s brother and his friend) were caught by
Sean and Whitey during the same night at the same moment. If Jimmy had only
waited a day longer, he wouldn’t have to confess and “see the light” like he
did the next morning. Jimmy’s decision to get his own vigilante justice and lash
out on Dave, cost him – which in hindsight of the movie was his destiny the moment
he left Dave in the molester’s car 25 years ago. Jimmy takes Celeste’s husband
and her son’s father away, and in the end becomes no better than the same
people who killed his dear daughter, Katie.
Near the end of the movie,
Sean and Jimmy see a car drive off and Sean makes the observation that they
really did “got in that car with Dave all those years ago”. Maybe if they just decided
to talk it over and run away when they were kids, they would never have to face
the guilt and tragedy the car brought.
No comments:
Post a Comment