I can't help it. I really tried to like this movie, and it actually started out very interesting - with the little boys playing in the street and one of them being kidnapped then. But the way the story went on it got more and more boring. I hoped Mystic River would actually be a lot about a river and nature and stuff, but it wasn't. Many dialogues, much depression, but very confusing. I think that's just another movie that lives on a name - Clint Eastwood. Even the appearances of three quite good actors was a disappointment to me - Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon. The movie is currently getting very good ratings, but I won't rate it all that high: 6/10

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TRAILERS from IMDb

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SYNOPSIS from Rotten Tomatoes

In Clint Eastwood's MYSTIC RIVER, a murder mystery in South Boston unites three men who have been friends since childhood. Grippingly powerful performances from the entire cast--Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, and Laura Linney--combined with gritty photography, an exceptionally emotional script, and a convincing working-class Boston setting make this film one of Eastwood's most consistent and penetrating works.

Though they live in the same houses where they grew up, Jimmy (Penn), Dave (Robbins), and Sean (Bacon) have drifted apart over time. Their distance is due to a disturbing and violent episode that occurred when they were children. Even now, as adults married with kids, they have never managed to overcome their fear and guilt about what happened. Dave and his wife (Harden) still live next door to Jimmy, who is married to a tough-sexy blond (Linney) and has three daughters. When Jimmy's 19-year-old girl is murdered, he turns to Sean, who works as a policeman, and delivers an ultimatum: find the killer fast or I'll go after him myself. Little do they know, the culprit is the last person they'd ever suspect.

This movie screened in October 2003 as part of the 41st New York Film Festival organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

STORY AND CHARACTERS

From his very first reading, director/producer Clint Eastwood knew he wanted to bring Dennis Lehane's best-selling novel Mystic River to the screen. "I read the book and optioned it immediately," he recalls. "It's a riveting story with enormous potential as a film. The characters are complex, interesting and well defined."

Eastwood, who won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his landmark Western Unforgiven in 1993, brings a classically spare, candid approach to Mystic River. "This film is about real people trying to come to terms with who they are under very tough circumstances. It needs to be done honestly and it needs to ring true."

Mystic River explores the interwoven history of three men, the terrible events that tainted their boyhood and shaped their futures, and the irrevocable choices they are ultimately forced to make. Individually, these characters must come to terms with their own personal demons, struggling with issues that bring an alarming momentum into the mix.