Rated R for language and violence

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney

Plot:
When they were kids growing up together in a rough section of Boston, Jimmy Markum (Penn), Dave Boyle (Robbins) and Sean Devine (Bacon) spent their days playing stickball on the street, the way most boys did in their blue-collar neighborhood of East Buckingham. Nothing much ever happened in their neighborhood. That is, until Dave was forced to take the ride that would change all of their lives forever. Twenty-five years later, the three find themselves thrust back together by another life altering event – the murder of Jimmy’s 19-year-old daughter. Now a cop, Sean is assigned to the case and he and his partner (Fishburne) are charged with unraveling the seemingly senseless crime. They must also stay one step ahead of Jimmy, a man driven by an all consuming rage to find his daughter’s killer. Connected to the crime by a series of circumstances, Dave is forced to confront the demons of his own past. Demons that threaten to destroy his marriage and any hope he may have for a future. As the investigation tightens around these three friends, an ominous story unfolds that revolves around friendship, family and innocence lost too soon.

Review:
Every year, there are a few films that leave you with a lasting impression. You think about when you leave the theatre to your car and you continue to think about it weeks later. Mystic River falls under that category, easily. Clint Eastwood has directed one of the best motion pictures of the year.

This film plays with your emotions, every second of the whole one-hundred and forty minute length. Your own daughter being murdered is possibly the worst thing to happen to anyones family. The thought of it is just very disturbing. Mystic River gives a good example on how a father would react if his daughter was murdered.

One day you see your daughter with a happy smile and the next day she is gone. Not only gone from you, but gone from this world. What would be one of the first things on your mind? Who the killer is of course. You'll want to hunt this guy down and kill him for the crime he has committed.

Mystic River is a long, sad and surprising case of a murder. Pretty much how every murder is. It keeps you glued to your seat and constantly wondering, who did this and why did they do it.

Jimmy, Sean and Dave were friends when they were children. They would play hockey and just hang around the block. However, after a false cop takes Dave into a car and locks him up in a closed room with chains, Dave's life changes as well as for Jimmy and Sean. Years later as they are grown up, they only see each other every so often, just to say hello. But their friendship is long gone.

Sean Penn plays Jimmy in this film. He plays the father of the girl that has been murdered. Overall, performance wise, Sean Penn delivers an outstanding one indeed. Actually, what stands out the most in Mystic River is clearly the acting because dialogue is what drives this film.

Tim Robbins plays the character named Dave in this film and he also is not far from a great performance. Robbins and Penn are easily the best actors in this film and they gave it their all. Following them would have to be Kevin Bacon's character Sean who is a detective and shines as well.

We should stop being lazy and get up.

You know, many innocent people are killed every year that didn't have anything to do with certain crimes and mysteries I'm sure. This film makes you think of those type things. It reflects with real life processes and thats part of what makes it so great.

With such a mystery being involved in this film it gets pretty violent, especially towards the end. It becomes quite a brutal film actually because the tolerance of not knowing who the killer is was winding down for Penn and the others. Eastwood had a very good eye for the direction in this film and with certain scenes he would cut back and forth with a second storyline occurring.

Clint Eastwood's direction is definitely something that the film couldn't have done without. He sets the mood and tone well and makes the dialogue of the film intriguing. Along with his sly direction, the script was extremely solid.

There was somewhat of a simple script to Mystic River, but the way the dialogue and acting was done was what made it come to life. It was all mostly in interior sets and done with investigations

The ending of the film is not breathtaking, but instead it was a rather less effective ending. There is certainly not a problem how it ends because there are always different interpretations and reasons for doing so. You can make it out all yourself and have fun thinking about it weeks to come.

Once again, actors Sean Penn and Tim Robbins give the best performances in this film. Kevin Bacon could have been up there with them, but as a detective his acting was limited. However, he did great as well and Laurence Fishburn had his share too.

Once the film ended it left a lasting appeal and its a movie that will be clearly be thought of for months and perhaps years. Mystic river is a dramatic, suspensful, well acted film. Its packed with oscar worthy performances and it is a great motion picture all around.

Mystic River

Rating: