At the end of the film Mystic River, Jimmy comes to the realization that he is not always right after all. In the beginning of the movie, when Jimmy was arranging Katie's funeral he promised her that he would find and kill her murderer before the cops got to him. He kept his promise. With confirmation from Celeste Jimmy inferred that Dave was the killer.
Jimmy got his revenge, he killed who he thought was the killer.
He thought that this revenge was giving justice to Katie, only to hear the news from Sean the next morning that he was sadly mistaken.
The great wrong was that Jimmy killed the wrong guy. He killed the man who he used to be best friends with. The man who was abducted during his childhood. The man who got into the car instead of him. The man who was given a second chance. The man who told the truth. And now Jimmy must face the guilt he has endowed upon himself.
He got his revenge with 'Just Ray' Harris, when 'Just Ray' Harris was guilty. But he also had got his revenge with Dave Boyle, when Dave Boyle was innocent. He was able to live with the guilt then because it converted into a 'little right', but will he be able to live with his actions when it creates a great wrong? This is the question that Eastwood leaves the audience to answer. And in my opinion, Jimmy will. He has already done his time. His past life is in the past. All that he has now is his wife and his two little daughters and the only time he'll think about Dave Boyle is when he looks out into the Mystic and when he views the sidewalk with his name imprinted into the cement. Sean and his names are completed, but Dave's is incomplete. Symbolizing their lives, Jimmy and Sean will live on while Dave's life was cut short.
Eastwood wants the audience to choose whether Jimmy's actions were justified. There are many parents in the world who would do anything for their children just like Jimmy did. If Jimmy had killed the real person who murdered his daughter, would it be justified? If so, then was his mistake an honest one? Theree are multiple conflicting moral views to these questions.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Sean let Jimmy walk free because the guilt he carries is enough, time in jail will not lessen the guilt. Although a crime has a specific punishment, Jimmy's own guilt is more punishment that any time he will serve in jail. Jimmy killed the wrong man and his childhood friend and that is something he must live with for the rest of his life.
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