Mystic River

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. (06/04/2012)

A true Clint Eastwood masterpiece and my burning candidate for the best work ever in Eastwood's entire filmography. The great thing about Mystic River is that the central crime plot is informed by the very different characters of the three main protagonists, alongside their dark childhood experiences. All three characters are also exceedingly interesting to watch as adults when, due to a sudden event, they are all forced to meet again (despite the fact that each is now completely different). It works very well as a crime drama, but the almost intimate/psychological dimension adds much more urgency to the whole story with its rising intensity. Sean Penn in particular manages to convey his character's feelings and motivations to the viewer in a unique (and very much his own) way, which, combined with Tim Robbins' equally excellent performance, pushes Mystic River far beyond the boundaries of a conventional crime story. The excellent ending, which basically just crowns a brilliantly played-out romp with all the characters, is then just the cherry on top. A genre film delicacy. (12/09/2018)

A chamber psychological thriller that relies on a very high-quality cast and reliable, experienced direction from Clint Eastwood. It is not a film that would cause any revolution in cinematography or bring me to ecstasy with its processing; on the other hand, it does not have any significant flaws and represents a significant above-average film in its genre. Overall impression: 75%. (12/28/2007)

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. (03/27/2006)

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% (07/09/2011)