Directed by:
Clint EastwoodScreenplay:
Brian HelgelandCinematography:
Tom SternComposer:
Clint EastwoodCast:
Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Kevin Chapman, Tom Guiry, Emmy Rossum, Spencer Treat Clark (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Haunted by a monstrous crime, three childhood friends in Boston cross paths again decades later in connection with a murder investigation. (Netflix)
Videos (2)
Reviews (11)
Thanks to Sean Penn's performance (and not just in the formally perfect scene of finding the victim), the film is better than it would have been without him. The crime story mixed with a heartrending drama holds up more than solidly until the finale, which unexpectedly escalates minute by minute and pulls many surprises on the viewer. Although you won't figure out until the final what that river is doing in the title, the atmosphere thus far collapses in that instant.
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A very impressive work that has artfully combined the virtues of psychological drama and detective story, with the blending of the two genres in a very gritty finale being one of the greatest pros of Eastwood's film. The first part feels rather clumsy and takes on revolutions more than laboriously, but in the end, thanks mainly to Sean Penn, the narrative engine kicks in successfully, and as the minutes progress, Mystic River becomes a truly magnetizing spectacle, which, while not surprisingly deep in storytelling or extremely masterful direction, amounts to only honest and interesting narratives, great acting performances and emotional moments. The strength of the story lies primarily in the central three-petal, in the internal dilemmas and scars that protagonists have carried with them since childhood and which influence their actions... Unbalanced, but excellent.
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Mysterious, intriguing and suspenseful! Mystic River is the best thriller driven whodunit I've ever seen. The story is perfect and the twists and turns and frequent plot changes make it much more unpredictable. Sean Penn delivers the ultimate acting performance, this guy goes instantly into my favorite actors, i love him! The rest of the cast also deserves praise for a job well done, especially the duo of detectives played by Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne. A polished, atmospheric diamond that left me almost breathless! 100%
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To criticize Eastwood is to spend the rest of my life looking nervously over my shoulder, but I've got the balls for it. Because the problem with Clint's directorial output of recent years lies mainly in the fact that he's a crappy psychologist, but would love to be one (i.e. the classic problem of all trendy psychology students, who end up psychoanalyzing their houseplants two months into their first semester, oh how many I've known). He can't seem to go deep into the characters, even though the actors help him tremendously with that. Tim Robbins' acting in particular should be watched just as a reward. Except that his monologues with cheesy metaphors (vampires, wolves) rustle the paper (or was it hustle?) and you don't believe a thing. The film's straightforward mystery storyline will please all crime fiction lovers because it's got it all and Fishburne and Bacon are likable to a fault. However, that shocking ending that the film doesn't allude to in any way beforehand squeals like a pig, no matter how well shot it is – especially the rather brutal and excellent skirmish from the unnamed characters. There's a very interesting (again, paper-rustling) scene at the end, with Penn's wife, whose relationship we've also learned quite a bit about up to this point, and will therefore cause a wrinkle on more than one forehead, and ironically it's this scene that stands out enough to clinch that fourth star, even though I still found the "traditional" bits the best part of the overall film.
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Once again, Clint works flawlessly with human emotions, from love to pure hatred, but this time it's not so much to his credit as to all the excellent actors who play such an atmospheric and chillingly patient game that the depressing finale made me want to scream and quickly shake it all off. Unfortunately, the compelling and simply-framed psychological storyline fights too hard for attention with the detective plot, which rings a bit hollow and is ultimately not as crucial to the story as the frequency of all the interrogations and new leads might suggest. Other than the aforementioned finale, there aren’t any wow-sequences that would be permanently etched in our memories, the kind Eastwood usually delivers aplenty in his masterpieces, so I have no choice but to bring up Sean Penn and Tim Robbins again, without whom this time it wouldn't have been quite the same – but Clint probably knew who to cast :))) 80%
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