Mystic River

2003 Directed by Clint Eastwood

We bury our sins, we wash them clean.

The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them has a family tragedy.

Sean Penn Tim Robbins Kevin Bacon Laurence Fishburne Marcia Gay Harden Laura Linney Kevin Chapman Tom Guiry Emmy Rossum Eli Wallach Spencer Treat Clark Andrew Mackin Adam Nelson Robert Wahlberg Jenny O'Hara John Doman Cameron Bowen Jason Kelly Connor Paolo T. Bruce Page Miles Herter Cayden Boyd Tori Davis Jonathan Togo John Franchi Ed O'Keefe

Alternative Titles

Río Místico, Sobre Meninos e Lobos, 神秘悬河, 神秘河流, Σκοτεινό Ποτάμι, ミスティック・リバー, 미스틱 리버, Таинственная река

crime thriller mystery drama

138 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Branson Reese ½ 19

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

There was a really intense kid who did theater with me in high school who would splash water in his face and grunt into a mirror before he went onstage. He always talked about Mystic River and how he was going for “that same intensity that Sean Penn had when he found out his daughter was dead.” He referenced that goddamn scene all the time.
Anyway, this movie fucking sucks
Review by Esteban Gonzalez ★★★★★ 7

“We bury our sins here, Dave. We wash them clean.”
Mystic River and Unforgiven are my two favorite Clint Eastwood films and depending on which one I see last I tend to put in first place. Right now I’m inclined to declare Mystic River as Eastwood’s best film, but that is subject to change anytime (perhaps even before I finish writing this review). Nominated for six Academy Awards, the film won two: Sean Penn for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Tim Robbins for Best Supporting Actor. I was rooting for Brian Helgeland’s wonderful screenplay adaptation from Dennis Lehane’s novel, but it lost out to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Helgeland had previously won…
Review by Austin Gorski ★★★★½ 2

"Is that my daughter in there?"
Wow, I can't believe it took me this long to watch this. Clint Eastwood had some serious balls for even attempting to tackle this type of subject matter at the time, and I congratulate him for that. The entire cast is phenomenal, especially Penn and Robbins, and like every other Clint Eastwood film, the cinematography is great. Even if the twist was a bit of a let down, Mystic River isn't as focused on it's mystery story as it is about the relationship between the three leads throughout their lives, which in a way made it a better film overall. Easily one of the better mystery films from the early 2000's.
Review by Dirk van Eck ★★★ 8

First watch of Noir-Vember. Following the standard police detective plot - murdered girl, multiple suspects, who will turn out to be the killer? - ‘Mystic River’ scores its point by enlisting a set of actors who surpass their level, led by a tremendous Sean Penn; man does that guy have range (I saw ‘Milk’ last week, what a difference). Second positive thing: though crimes seem to bore me without exception, Clint Eastwood sets a pace here that’s not rushed per se, but so captivating from the first minute that the hours seemed to fly by. Got myself some pizza at what I thought would be the forty minute mark, only to see there was barely an hour left! The variety…
Review by josh lewis ★★★★

lehane's overbearing fatalism expressed here with an almost unbearable patience, this is eastwood at his most elemental... man's basest instincts rendered both tragic and horrifying, his violence creating eternal waves of trauma, consuming the mind and soul of everyone within reach.
Review by Chris 🦑 ★½ 6

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

When your entire ‘message’ can be summed up with “murdering an innocent man because he’s mentally ill and his memory is fragmented due to severe trauma is okay because you did it for your family” and there’s even a line towards the end that’s supposed to be deep that goes like “survivors of child sexual abuse have it hard for their entire lives but maybe we ALL do. Think about that...” maybe you shouldn’t be making movies. Tim Robbins’ character died a horrible and ugly death and suffered the entire movie while Kevin bacon Sean penn were just like well that’s over. Still friends though right?
God this was just a mediocre movie until the entire last act just made it disgusting

Recent reviews

Review by HenrV ★★★½

This must've been so sick before Prisoners came out. (Just watch Prisoners)
Review by Andrew Hirshberg ★

I hated this so much I decided to do dishes because I needed a break.
Review by Josh Mayer ★★★★½

Fantastic. I never realized how much I liked the idea of a noir/neo-noir movie until I watched this one. I love how the entire movie was set to a dark tone, and I think Sean Penn deserved Best Actor here. Great movie.
Review by Alonso Díaz de la Vega ★★★

A film about truth, appearances and institutional incompetence which causes a good man to be blamed unfairly —by the only black character in the film, by the way— for a crime he didn’t commit, Mystic River seems to be a predecessor to Eastwood’s more recent Richard Jewell. Both films are marred by melodrama but I prefer the partiality and humanistic sentimentality of Richard Jewell to Mystic River’s coincidences, loose ends and incoherent denouement.
Review by Rich Bozek ★★★½

Mixed bag as always from Eastwood, but great screenplay & charismatic leads transcend most of the issues. Fairly straightforward & workmanlike directorial approach for the most part, but works well. Story stays firmly on the rails but gets more compelling as it goes on.
You can always see the seams showing in Eastman's work. I dig his confidence and his "commit to the shot, do 2 takes, and move on" approach, but sometimes it makes for some sloppy filmmaking. It usually shows in the editing - shots don't necessarily flow together; continuity feels a little under-attended to; shifting between locations or plots can feel jagged - but this film was pretty smooth.
Also...
You're always asking for trouble when you set a movie in smalltown Boston - some of the accents... yikes.
Review by joeykip406 ★★★★

An A list cast was brought together to tell this heartbreaking story of trauma, mistakes, and friendship. Though it is about 15 minutes longer than it should have been, the story is still exceptionally well told.
Review by ONEARM3DMAN ★★★½

If we are talking Southie canon its not as good as Gone Baby Gone, about the same as Spotlight, and much better than Black Mass
Review by tylerclardy ★★★★★

I mean Jesus I did not leave this movie happy but man Sean Penn...that dude can act
Review by newps ★★★½

last like 10 minutes were completely unnecessary