In 'Mystic River' the only special effect is the riveting acting

Directed by an actor, the lean, moody "Mystic River" is an actor's movie. The year's finest ensemble of actors warily circle each other in a story about a dead girl, a grieving father bent on revenge and a grown man still lost in a childhood nightmare. Everyone in this story, set in working-class Boston, is haunted by ghosts from their pasts; everyone's eyes speak volumes.

Clint Eastwood's film, written by Brian Helgeland ("L.A. Confidential") and based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, stands alone in the quintet nominated for best picture. It's the only tragedy in the lot, and it's a small one at that, which doesn't bode well for its chances — Oscar tends to like its tragedies on a more sweeping scale, like "Gladiator" or "The English Patient."

But in a year in which three out of five best-picture nominees ("The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" and "Seabiscuit") received no acting nominations whatsoever, the cast of "Mystic River" has been repeatedly honored.

Sean Penn, whose emotional journey in the film travels from heart-ripping howls of anguish to silent, chilling menace, is the man to beat for best actor.

Tim Robbins, playing the shadow of a man whose childhood trauma is written on his pale face, is a front-runner for best supporting actor.

And Marcia Gay Harden, whose gentle, fragile Celeste seems perpetually on the verge of shattering, well deserves to win best supporting actress. (She probably won't, though — the talented Harden has won this category before, so this looks to be Renée Zellweger's year.)

Other splendid work in "Mystic River" goes unrecognized, but contributes to the movie's power: Kevin Bacon, wonderfully subtle as a detective investigating a case he's too close to; Laura Linney as a chilling Lady Macbeth; Laurence Fishburne as Bacon's breezy cop partner.

Eastwood, here directing his 24th picture with the confidence marshaled from a lifetime in movies, is the only previous Oscar winner in this year's best director category (he won for "Unforgiven," which also won best picture in 1993). He may go home empty-handed this year, though his movie likely will not — as a showcase for virtuoso performances, it is unrivaled. "Mystic River" may be intimate in scale, but no special effect this year could compare with the ice in Penn's eyes.

Trivia

Eastwood, now 73, wasn't the only senior citizen on the "Mystic River" crew. Henry Bumstead, 88-year-old master production designer and art director of "The Sting," "To Kill a Mockingbird" and many of Eastwood's films (up to and including "Mystic River"), received his first Oscar nomination for his work in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo." That film was released in 1958 — the same year Robbins and Bacon were born.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com