Last night I went to see The Secret in Their Eyes, a dark Argentinian thriller shot through with romantic and comic threads. The movie unfolds as a series of flashbacks and imaginings about the rape-homicide 25 years earlier of a young schoolteacher married to a bank clerk. Benjiman, a retired court investigator, decides to write a novel about the case, which puts him again in touch with a judge from the time, the much younger Irene, the object of his undeclared affection. The courthouse is a profane world; most of the judges and officers are bureaucratic hacks, opportunistic sleazeballs, or worse. Irene, with Benjiman and his Pancho Sanchez sidekick, Pablo Sandoval, are among the exceptions.
There's an electrifying scene that starts with a long overhead view of a soccer stadium, where Benjamin and Sandoval are searching for the suspected rapist Gomez. When Benjamin later gets nowhere during his interrogation of Gomez, Irene steps in. In an incredible bit of drama, she takes the hostility toward women which is at the heart of machismo and relentlessly twists it against Gomez to bring him to confession. And that's just the beginning. Ricardo Darin as Benjamin, Soledad Villamil as Irene, and Guillermo Francella as Sandoval, are outstanding and the supporting cast is terrific. Director and writer Juan Jose Campanella, who has also directed episodes of Law and Order, has crafted a richly-wrought suspense story.
I got home before 11, with the Flyers and Blackhawks tied 3-3 and poised to go into overtime. I also heard on the way home that in Detroit Armando Galarraga, with two out in the ninth, had lost a perfect game because of a blown call by first base umpire Jim Joyce. Jason Donald (former Phillie farmhand) had grounded to Cabrera, who tossed the ball to Galarraga covering first. Donald was clearly out but Joyce called him safe. Galarrago knew that Joyce had blown it, but responded merely with a sweetly wry smile, then went to get the next batter on another ground-out.
The umpire later apologized after seeing the replay, but really what else could he do. The proof was incontrovertible, and Jim Joyce will forever be known as that guy. So for that matter will Galarraga, who will forever be the guy who threw the perfect game that was but wasn't. I am really moved more by how gracious Galarraga was than by anything else. By the time I got done watching the coverage of that (baseball after all rules), the Flyers had scored a goal that was disallowed, then shortly after that Claude Giroux put the winning puck in the net. The Flyers now trail the series 2-1 but could easily be leading it 3-0. So could the Blackhawks. Only Chicago, however, has not seemed to recognize how evenly matched these two teams are.
All but forgotten in all this is the news that Ken Griffey, Jr. yesterday announced his retirement, 22 years to the day from when he made his debut in the majors. June 2 is also the day that Babe Ruth retired from baseball. On any other day, the Griffey news would have been the story. Yesterday, however, not.
And today the Phillies signed erratic outfielder Willie Taveras to a minor league contract. He will, presumably, take the spot of Dewayne Wise on the IronPigs' roster. Wise exercised his June 1 option to become a free agent. For the 'Pigs this is a sideways move.
