Mystic River
2003 Directed by Clint Eastwood
Synopsis
We bury our sins, we wash them clean.
A thriller about friendship and loyalty, guilt and vengeance, and the fateful affect the past has on the present. Sean Penn won an Oscar for his multifaceted performance as a father who lost his daughter.
Cast
Popular reviews
More-
Whether you love this or hate it, you have to admit how powerfully dynamic the cast. You get absolutely fantastic performances out of a cast that includes Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Hardin, and Laura Linney. The story is visceral, powerful, and filled with emotional and even frightening layers to the characters. I do have some problems with the film but most of those problems can be overlooked because of such amazing performances. Drags on near the end and some things feel too coincidental, most of these flaws again can be overlooked because of such terrific performances. It's not one of Eastwood's all time best, but it's definitely not an all time low for him.
-
We bury our sins here, Dave. We wash them clean.
-Jimmy MarkumClint Eastwood's adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel has always come off to me as less about a murder mystery and more about guilt, trust, regret and loyalty. I don't don't know if Brian Helgeland's screenplay deviates from the novel, but upon rewatching the film you can easily recognize these themes being present before any murder occurs.
Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn) has lead a life of questionable morals, but he has the trust and loyalty of everyone around him because they know that actually means something to him. While he does what he thinks is justifiably right, it's not always morally right. That is where the guilt comes in…
-
A definitive tour-de-force in terms of its ensemble cast delivering some of the best performances of their careers, in addition to Clint Eastwood's profoundly subtle direction, "Mystic River" is a skillfully crafted detective drama that pays a great respect to fans like me of the powerhouse Boston-set novel written by Dennis Lehane.
-
Like a really interesting Law & Order episode!
No, but for real, awesome performances all around. Tim Robbin's plays a man who really has lost his shit, his actions do not make sense and his one scene with rambling off of "Vampires and Werewolves" particularly showing how off the deep end he went. Sean Penn, woah. Scary good acting. And of course, Kevin Bacon pretty much playing the part in which he should be in the abomination of a show, "The Following". You put these three guys in a movie together, and your bound to get great scenes, and really they just carry this movie. If I was judging this scene by scene, this would take the cake. But again, there…
-
Sean Penn destroyed me. Godamn.
-
Sometimes a director comes along and finds a source material that feels like it was made for him. Dennis Lehane is without a doubt my favorite author and each of his stories have a different tone to them while usually existing in the same kind of world. Ben Affleck was the perfect choice to take on a character like Patrick Kenzie, with the youthful adrenaline and somber beats that made up his Gone Baby Gone. Likewise, when it comes to the more world-worn and somehow even bleaker Mystic River, there was really no finer a choice to direct it than Clint Eastwood.
Eastwood is a director with a very old-fashioned approach to filmmaking that I always greatly admire even in…
Recent reviews
More-
It could have just been a murder mystery film involving childhood friends but the material gets taking much further. Involving deeper schemes such as causality, the butterfly effect and having crazy wives. I would have rated this higher if I hadn't found some of the characters fates rather predictable.
-
I guess I found this to be an effective crime film, but I never thought it was anything great. Now I mainly remember it as the movie that cost Bill Murray a Best Actor Oscar.
-
Who knew Kevin Bacon could act? Another dark and very well written film from Clint Eastwood. He is a master of drama
-
dull
-
There was no need for a second ending really, this movie was so awesome and well done.
-
Una de las grandes. Hay que revisionarla de vez en cuando
-
All the leading actors are doing a terrific job at supporting the development of a bleak plot that is not easy to stomach and which only seems to be heading towards a sadder way. The directing seems nothing special, but it's steady and working. It's one of those films that won't leave your mind alone for a while.
-
Drama policial de muy alto nivel, no se como espere tanto para verla. Los personajes son desarrollados profundamente, y la historia siempre busca partir de un hecho en particular al principio de la película, que marca todo el resto del film, algo oscura y pesimista pero es desde ya una película a la que tengo alta estima.
-
A definitive tour-de-force in terms of its ensemble cast delivering some of the best performances of their careers, in addition to Clint Eastwood's profoundly subtle direction, "Mystic River" is a skillfully crafted detective drama that pays a great respect to fans like me of the powerhouse Boston-set novel written by Dennis Lehane.