Mystic River

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% (09/01/2014)

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. (24/07/2005)

Thanks to Sean Penn's performance (not only in the formally perfect scene of finding the victim), the film is better than it would be 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 will understand what that river in the title is looking for during it, the previous atmosphere collapses in that instant. (27/03/2006)

A dark crime drama with a fantastically intricate plot. Clint Eastwood directs coolly, distantly, and very meticulously. Sean Penn delivers a fantastic performance and the dramaturgy of Mystic River is flawless. It is exactly the kind of film where everything falls into place at the end as it should, but at the same time it is raw, harsh, and unconventional enough to confuse even the ordinary viewer. (17/08/2004)

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. (04/06/2012)