I rented Mystic River from Netflix, and managed to make it through the whole film despite being repelled by the protagonist’s character and by the over-acting of Sean Penn.

Come to find out later, Sean Penn won the Oscar for “Best Actor in a Leading Role” for his portrayal of Jimmy Markum, an arrogant self-absorbed Boston-area father and two-bit thief. I can see why the part would be a natural for Penn (arrogant, self-absorbed) although Jimmy Markum’s not the sort of person you’d ever want to know or be friends with.

Nothing about Penn’s Markum seemed real to me… if there are people in this world like him, I thankfully have not met them, but his staged breaking through the police lines to see his slain daughter was an obvious attempt to make his character larger than the movie. I wasn’t buying it. I saw that as a man crying out, “I AM AN ACTOR!! – SEE MY EMOTION, FEEL MY ANGUISH!” I didn’t see Jimmy Markum at all, just Sean Penn being mis-directed by Clint Eastwood.

Of course by now we know that the Oscars have become a kind of political sham. For example, does anyone really believe that 2007’s Best Song was “I Need to Wake Up,” by Melissa Etheridge? Really? I think the Academy needs to wake up. But back in 2003 the Best Actor award was leaning towards awarding people who portrayed characters who were worse morally than you ever dreamed a human could be. Denzel Washington won in 2001 for his portrayal of Alonzo, a corrupt and racist cop who was more animal than human. Again – not someone you’d ever want to meet, or know. I agree that Denzel is a powerful actor though; worthy of his award. Did he win for Glory, Crimson Tide, or Philadelphia? Movies in which he portrayed characters with some redeeming qualities? Nope. But I digress.

Sean Penn – the Little Richard of acting… please check yourself into rehab for your illness of over-acting. And do we need an Academy that acts as enabler? Oh, and by the way, Kevin Bacon turned in the best acting performance of the three leading men in Mystic River, and he wasn’t even nominated. Marcia Gay Harden was awesome as usual in her role, and Laura Linney’s portrayal of Annabeth Markum was frightening. That lady is scary looking.

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