(a) It's got Sean Penn in and; (b) Clint Eastwood directed it.
Firstly I haven't got an overt dislike for Sean Penn but I have always found his performances lacking something, he seemed to be more well known for being a wild man rather than a fine actor. I also didn't particularly like him in Dead Man Walking, I thought that his performance was painful to watch, he was acting his heart out and you could see he was just acting so... and then he gets an Academy 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 audience another facet of Clint Eastwood's very strong personality. Now that only goes for his acting. Don't hate me!! I don't know what it is but his performances just didn't touch me I suppose.
So there are my two 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 you the plot, well maybe a little... the film begins with three young boys playing in the street, Jimmy, Sean and Dave. A seemingly inconsequential occurrence in the street turns into a tragic and terrible ordeal for one of the boys, well for all of the boys really.
Then the film skips time-wise to when the three boys have grown up to be men with wives and families of their own. A murder takes place. One of the young boys now grown into a cop, Sean (played by Kevin Bacon) and his partner (Laurence Fishburne) must figure out who did it. The murder brings all three men together again, Jimmy (Sean Penn), Sean (Kevin Bacon) and Dave (Tim Robbins) and throws them into a descending spiral of despair and tragedy and well-kept secrets.
That is all I'm going to say plot-wise because I don't want to give too much away and spoil the drama for anyone who reads this and subsequently watches the film.
The plot wasn't too complex or too complicated that I couldn't understand it, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to identify the boys as men, knowing which one had turned into which actor, but this was easy I found. Sometimes it can be very confusing when you start with young characters and then move forward in time and have adult actors and you don't know which character is which, but in Mystic River, the characters of the young boys are formed very quickly at the beginning of the film and you can recognise them as adults instantly.
I thought the plot was well-constructed and there was tension, intrigue and edge of the seat out-and-out panic and also a tender sadness which was heightened enormously by Sean Penn's wonderful performance.
Onto the actors and their performances, as said this starred Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney.
Sean Penn was magnificent I must say, he was honest and raw and just exceptional. He WAS Jimmy, and through Penn's performance you could feel his pain and grief, it was tangible. He deserved the Oscar for his performance, this may go on to be the best performance of his career.
Tim Robbins also won an Oscar (Best Supporting Actor) for his role as Dave, and again he was just outstanding. His role as Dave meant that he had to conjure a character that the audience could understand and like but also distrust and dislike him at the same time. How Robbins manages this I don't know but he does. He is brilliant, you want to hug him and are repulsed by him at the same time. I noticed that sometimes Robbins looked very grey in this movie, he looked gaunt and ghoulish, his demeanor one of defeat as though already dead.
Kevin Bacon was his usual likeable self, he is good at playing these sorts of roles, and I thought he was believable and not too bad. His performance isn't as good as Robbins or Penn but he plays his character well and his performance doesn't detract from the two main actors.
The pace is good, I hardly seemed to notice the time going by because I was so drawn into the film, and I was pulled into the movie by the very fine acting, the intricate and fascinating plot and the depth of the movie.
Like the depth of the river in the film, this film runs deep. It pulls you in because you engage with the characters and you begin to care for them and feel for them, and you want what they want, revenge, retribution, love, acceptance and ultimately healing and reconciliation.
Obviously this is quite a dark film, it is compelling and moving and remarkably well-crafted. I would recommend this film to all who enjoy dramatic performances mixed with a bit of mystery and tragedy. This is not a happy ending story where everything falls into place at the end, this film left me feeling moved and sort of remorseful (don't know why!)
And my final last and concluding point must go to the excellent direction and sound by Clint Eastwood, just perfect, he has redeemed his many lack-lustre acting performances for me in this quality masterpiece of a movie.
The film's certificate is a 15, there is violence and strong language. It lasts approx 132 minutes.
The product I was reviewing was rented from my local library for £2.50 for three days. It is available from most music/dvd/video stores and is currently priced at £10.99 to buy at Amazon.
And thanks to LIZKEMPO's review for finally pushing me into watching this one.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2003 - Drama - Director: Michael Winterbottom - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar
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
Superior acting, writing and direction are on impressive display in the ... 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...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Superior acting, writing and direction are on impressive display in the ... 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...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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 bef...
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...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: An acting masterclass by the cream of the crop Disadvantages: Some ends left untied but this is also part of the fantastic unnerving feeling the film generates throughout.
audreyh 10.02.2005 (10.02.2005)
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Review of Mystic River (DVD)
Advantages: An acting masterclass by the cream of the crop Disadvantages: Some ends left untied but this is also part of the fantastic unnerving feeling the film generates throughout.
audreyh 10.02.2005 (10.02.2005)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Mystic River (DVD)
![Mystic River [2003] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78511368.jpg "Mystic River [2003] [DVD]")
Aug 15th, 2004
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