Production Year: 2003 - Drama - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden more
In Clint Eastwood's MYSTIC RIVER, a murder mystery in South Boston unites three men who have been friends since childhood. Grippingly powerful performances from the entire... more
Oscar-winningMystic River, Clint Eastwood's 24th directorial outing and one of the finest films of 2003. Sharply adapted byLA ConfidentialOscar-winner Brian Helgeland from the nove...
Oscar-winningMystic River, Clint Eastwood's 24th directorial outing and one of the finest films of 2003. Sharply adapted byLA ConfidentialOscar-winner Brian Helgeland from the nove...
Mystic River DVD
Three childhood friends - Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn) Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins) and Sean ... more
Devine (Kevin Bacon) - are thrust together as adults when Jimmy's 19 year old daughter is murdered. Clint Eastwood's powerhouse drama secured Best Actor and Best Supp...
Mystic River
Friends who grew up in working-class Boston, they drift apart after a terrible tragedy. ... more
Years later, brutal events reconnect them. Jimmy's 19 year-old daughter is coldly murdered. Dave is a suspect. And Sean, now a cop, scrambles to solve the crime before volatile Jimmy takes the law into his own hands. Working from Brian Helgeland's adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel, director Clint Eastwood shapes a masterwork, a brooding thriller built on a family, friends and innocence lost. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon play the pivotal threesome, joining Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden and Laure Linney in one of the most powerful casts ever. The river has may depths. Let it wash over you.
Mystic River - 0553818244
Dennis Lehane'sMystic Rivertakes the material of the ordinary police procedural thriller ... more
and shapes it into heart-break. As boys, Jimmy, Dave and Sean were friends, until one day Dave was abducted by two men pretending to be cops, and was never quite the same again. As men, Dave is a damaged fantasist, safe in a quietly happy marriage; Jimmy a retired criminal making a good respectable living for the sake of his children; and Sean is the homicide cop who finds himself investigating the murder of Jimmy's eldest daughter Katie. This is not just a book about what becomes of the children who grow into adults; it is about what happens to a neighbourhood when the rules change, when an old established working-class district acquires gentrified espresso bars at one end and the beats of the city's most dangerous whores at the other. It is also a book about the tragedy of all sudden violent deaths; we never forget our sense of Katie as she was, dancing on the last night of her life--she is never just the corpse here, never just the object of mourning and investigation. --Roz Kaveney
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1981 - Drama - Director: Franco Zeffirelli - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Penelope Milford, Beatrice Straight
A review by an_enigmatic_brummie on Mystic River (DVD) November 22nd, 2004
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Outstanding
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Good
How does it compare to similar films?
Outstanding
Advantages:
Great Cast, Fabulous screenplay
Disadvantages:
A little too long
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Just now and again during the annual jamboree of movie mayhem, a little gem finds its way into the melee; a gem that needs to be cared for and revered. During 2003 that movie was Mystic River. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Director: Clint Eastwood Screenplay: Brian Helgeland Cert: 15 Run time: 137 mins
Main Cast: Sean Penn - Jimmy Markum Tim Robbins - Dave Boyle Kevin Bacon - Sean Devine Laurence Fishburne - Sgt. Whitey Powers Marcia Gay Harden - Celeste Boyle Laura Linney - Annabeth Markum Kevin Chapman - Val Savage Tom Guiry - Brendan Harris Emmy Rossum - Katie Markum ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel, Mystic River is the story of 3 childhood friends who grow up to lead three very different lives. Their paths cross and seem indeterminedly linked to one gloomy episode in their joint past.
The story starts with the three main characters – Jimmy Markhum (Sean Penn), Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins) and Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) playing in the street. A car pulls up and two paedophiles dupe Dave into getting into the car under the pretence of going to see his father for defacing wet concrete. Thereafter follows days of abuse at the hands of the seedy pair. However, Boyle escapes left with the mental scars of what happened during those fateful days.
The film fast forwards to present day and each are living out very different existences. Jimmy Markhum is happily married with children whilst Sean Devine is a workaholic police detective dedicated to his job. Dave flits from job to job, mentally insecure and still suffering nightmares from those dark days of his childhood.
The catalyst for the story is the brutal murder of Devine’s teenage daughter. Whilst walking home late one night, it appears that she has been sexually assaulted and strangled by an unbalanced assailant. Markhum is assigned the case and when the spotlight falls on Boyle as the possible murderer, the three paths collide with catastrophic consequences.
Clint Eastwood’s progress as a director has been relentless. From the outstanding “Unforgiven” in 1992 to the more thoughtful “Bridges of Madison County” in 1995, Eastwood has turned an iconic acting career into a hugely successful one as director. More recently, the moderately successful “Space Cowboys” in 2000 showed that Eastwood has not lost his sense of humour but in Mystic River he shows a deftness that brings out the best in a fabulous cast. Often using close up shots to show the character’s expression, the pace of the movie together with the shooting on location in Boston come together to create an utterly believable and compelling story. The haunting image of Robbins looking back through the rear window as he is driven off by the paedophiles is typical of the meticulous work to follow that makes the film so stunning.
Sean Penn and Tim Robbins won Oscars for their roles whilst a string of other nominations made the movie a much heralded success. For me personally, Tim Robbins steals the show. His depiction of a tortured soul, still living the nightmare many years on is both chilling and worthy of the audience’s empathy. The visual analogy of living and escaping from wolves compounds the substantial scars left on his psyche and the emergence of the man from the physically and mentally maligned boy is played out with many a sideways glance as the adult Robbins has little confidence left to look people in the eye.
Marcia Gay Harden plays opposite him as his wife (another Oscar nomination) and the chemistry between the two is explosive. Robbin’s plunge into mental meltdown is beautifully offset by Harden’s angst at the implication of her husband in the murder. The fact that her husband returned home late on the night of the killing, covered in blood and keen to tell a number of different versions of what happened to him that night presents a thought provoking case to prove that he wasn’t involved and an issue that chips away at her conscience as Boyle’s behaviour becomes increasingly distraught.
Sean Penn’s Oscar was equally richly deserved I’m sure although his likeness to Robert De Niro both in acting style and appearance took the edge of his performance for me. Established as the local gangland boss, his is a display full of anger and violence with no small amount of prejudice that creates that cold edge to his character. His dislike of one of the local boys proves one of the movie’s biggest ironies and contributes to the film’s rapier sharp twist at the finale.
I really enjoyed Bacon’s performance too. His character is given depth by virtue of the mystery woman in the background who calls him from time to time and appears to be caring for his child. That customary calm assurance that Bacon often adopts in his film roles proves well suited to the “by the book” cop.
If that wasn’t enough we get Fishburne playing a tough, sharp detective completely oblivious to the brooding threat posed by Penn and on top of game enough to implicate the unfortunate Robbins. More renowned for his part as Morpheus in the Matrix trilogy, Fishburne proves again what a fine actor he is.
The fact that all 3 were childhood friends and are now thrust together under the umbrella of tragedy is woven together to make the viewer believe that all 3 still have strong ties. Penn’s agony is spilled out with often one-sided chats with Robbins, the audience left to believe that the sinned against is talking to the sinner. Hovering in the background is the thought that the insidious events of those fateful days in the cellar with the paedophiles could have happened to any one of the three and that feeling of guilt is never far from the surface and nags away in the background.
The shooting of the film on location in Boston lends a great deal of authenticy with the eponymous Mystic River often in the background and playing a part in some significant scenes. I’m sure there is a metaphorical significance to both the title of the film and the fact that the river flows through all three lives from starting reel to finish whilst the central tenet of the movie around burying our sins to wash them clean is reflected in the number of times the river is used to underline the symbolism of what the story is all about.
Helgeland’s screenplay was also Oscar nominated for it’s gritty realism adapted from Lehane’s novel. If I had to criticise it would be because of the running time. The first half an hour or so did plod as the movie took its time to take off and at 137 minutes it’s probably about 20 minutes too long. Notwithstanding, this is a fabulous movie full of wonderful performances and an outcome that is difficult to guess until very close to the closing frames.
I suppose comparisons are inevitable and when trying to distil the various characteristics of Mystic River, you’d have to consider elements of classic, updated gangster flicks like “Goodfellas”, the cinematography of “Road to Perdition” and a thoughtful helping of the legendary Sam Mendes. If you enjoy thrillers full of fraught tension acted out with panache and guile then this will be a movie you will relish. For me, this was the best movie of 2003.
Thanks for reading
Marandina
Mystic River is available on video and DVD. Amazon are quoting £4.99 for the video whilst the DVD retails at £10.99. It pays to shop around, of course.
Advantages: Dark, sombre tale Disadvantages: Slow in places
...clothes? The city of the mystic river holds all the answers and a few more secrets besides.
As you’ve probably gathered, Mystic River is not a happy tale. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film is a dark and sombre tale about justice, retribution and fate. If you like happy endings, then it will come as no surprise to find that Mystic River is probably NOT the film for you.
So what’s it all about? Well, the whole film has a distinctly ... ...that’s exactly what happens in Mystic River. Dave’s abduction as a child is shown as a singularly very shocking event. The image of the car pulling away with the frightened young boy peering from the rear windshield is extremely powerful, but when the action then shifts to adulthood, you are at once curious as to what will happen next. Dave is, not surprisingly, terribly affected by the trauma, but we clearly see that he isn’t the ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: A well acted dark drama for adults Disadvantages: Some might not like such a sombre tale.
Mystic River is an adaptation of a novel by Dennis Lehane a dark mystery thriller with a less than Hollywood ending. The screenplay by Brian Helgeland is well-crafted and Clint Eastwood directs with an easy morose pace that’s guaranteed to grip the audience and depress the mood. The haunting background music was also written by Eastwood.
The story takes place in a Boston suburb. Three young boys Jimmy, Sean and Dave are playing in the street and ... ...A man claiming to be a detective interrogates the boys and makes Dave Boyle get into his car. The subsequent events scar the boy for life. It is 30years later as adults when the three boy’s destinies are once more entangled that the film examines the effects of this event on the lives of them all. Dave (Tim Robbins) comes home bloodstained and tells his wife he has been attacked by a mugger and may have killed him. She comforts him but becomes suspicious ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Moody, mysterious and marvellous Disadvantages: None
...Award for his performance in Mystic River and I think, well, maybe...maybe in this performance he does deliver so...
Secondly, and I know this is going to vex many of you out there, I have never, and I repeat never liked Clint Eastwood. Don't start pelting me with tomatoes just yet!! I have watched a good number of his movies and found that most of his performances were decidedly similar. He just doesn't seem to act, he is rather just showing the ... ...reasons for wanting to hate Mystic River, first of all Sean Penn is the main male lead in the film and second, Clint Eastwood directed the film... only I was sort of intruiged and interested in seeing it, I wanted to see this Oscar winning performance of Sean Penn's and then I wanted to slate it!
But here I am, in all honesty and in all fairness, giving my full and honest opinion of the movie and I loved it.
I am not going to even begin to tell ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: very good script, very good actors Disadvantages: The message left is just not right
...on the shores of the mystic river, only to find out next day that the killer was someone else and Dave sort of told the truth about what happened to him that infamous night. I am not going to tell you who was the killer, this is not the point of this opinion.
Sean knows that actually Jimmy has done something horrible to Dave, but he doesn’t do anything. Unacceptable for a policeman. And so, Jimmy gets away with this cold blood murder of an innocent ... ...with the murder of someone who talked to the police about him, years before.
This is what I dislike about the movie, that leaves this message: you can get away with murder. This is not right. It doesn’t matter how good the actors played in the movie (they are doing their part brilliantly, I must admit, Tim Robbins being, for me, the best, with Sean Penn second), how good the movie is directed (Clint Eastwood knows how to do a movie) or how much ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: A dark story, but well told. Disadvantages: Unrelentingly grim.
Firstly; I suppose I'd better lay my cards on the table right from the outset. I'm not really a big fan of anyone in this film. Sean Penn - I could take him or leave him, I'm afraid. He does a fine job of looking either intense or anguished, but doesn't seem to ever do very much else. Tim Robbins - sorry, but he really doesn't seem to have any appreciable charisma to me. I don't doubt that the man can act; it's just that, unlike some other actors ... ...There's always a slight barrier there. And as to Kevin Bacon - well, he's got six degrees of looking vacant, but that's about it.
So I wasn't expecting to enjoy this film at all. And yet, almost despite myself, I did. Don't get me wrong, though - it's not in my top ten list of favourite films or anything, and I still don't understand why it got as much critical acclaim as it did - but, given that I was expecting to hate it, the fact that I came ...
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Advantages: Special effects are quite spectacular, true Speilberg style Disadvantages: Weak story line
...starred in Lord of the Rings but only has a few words to say in this movie.
Dakota Fanning as Rachel, could be the next Drew Barrymore, watch this space.
Tim Robins as Ogilvy (astronomer), MysticRiver and Jacobs Ladder fame,
Justin Chatwin (Robbie). Who?
Special Edition DVD disc 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scenes include:
Revisiting the invasion
The HG Wells LegacySteven Spielberg And The Original War Of The Worlds
Designing The Enemy Tripods And Aliens
Photo gallery
Box Set is PAL and region 2.
Dolby and Wide screen.
Film Length 1 hour and 40 minutes
Language is English
To Sum It All Up
~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry folks not as good the HG Wells classic. There were a large group of us seeing this and we left the cinema with the same mixed emotions. The DVD is not much better but Spielberg does deliver some memorable moments...
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Plot: On the streets of Boston three lads pass time by playing ball games in the street. One day, bored and fed up they decide to make patterns in the fresh concrete pavement left by workmen. A passing car stops and a man gets out. He begins to tell the boys off and makes Dave get in his car. The man says he's going to see Dave's parents. But Dave goes missing.
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): WARNER HOME VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date: 01/06/2004
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: D 027721
Barcode: 7321900277211
Languages
Main Language: English
Subtitle Language: Arabic, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish
Hearing Impaired Language: English
Technical information
Special Features: Mystic River From Page To Screen, Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio: 2.40 Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
DVD Description
In Clint Eastwood's MYSTIC RIVER, a murder mystery in South Boston unites three men who have been friends since childhood. Grippingly powerful performances from the entire cast--Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, and Laura Linney--combined with gritty photography, an exceptionally emotional script, and a convincing working-class Boston setting make this film one of Eastwood's most consistent and penetrating works. Though they live in the same houses where they grew up, Jimmy (Penn), Dave (Robbins), and Sean (Bacon) have drifted apart over time. Their distance is due to a disturbing and violent episode that occurred when they were children. Even now, as adults married with kids, they have never managed to overcome their fear and guilt about what happened. Dave and his wife (Harden) still live next door to Jimmy, who is married to a tough-sexy blond (Linney) and has three daughters. When Jimmy's 19-year-old girl is murdered, he turns to Sean, who works as a policeman, and delivers an ultimatum: find the killer fast or I'll go after him myself. Little do they know, the culprit is the last person they'd ever suspect. Or is it
Award information
OSCAR: Best Actor In A Leading Role 2003 (Sean Penn)
OSCAR: Best Actor In A Supporting Role 2003 (Tim Robbins)
Professional reviews
Review: "...This is a must-see movie..." (Daily Express, )
"...It is a film of magisterial, slow burning power..." (Neil Norman) (Evening Standard, )
"...Mainstream entertainment with brains and balls... [Penn's is a] tension-in-the-shoulders performance, edgy, dangerous, alert and full of guile..." (The Times, )
![Mystic River [2003] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78511368.jpg)
