As a big Clint fan, I've grown disappointed by his work over the last 20 or so years. His direction is often slow, and the material he's chosen has been subpar. 'Mystic River', however, was great. Fascinating characters, great atmosphere, interesting story, good subtext, and great direction. The movie moves along nicely, but not too fast for its own good. It's good to see Clint getting it together after so many recent 2 and 1/2 star movies.

"Mystic River" aspires to transcend its genre so boldly that I found myself overwhelmed by its audacity. Those who expect a plot driven murder mystery or a crime story will be sorely disappointed. In this film, the plot recedes into insignificance. Like all great works of art, the heart and soul of this work is not its plot, but its characters and its themes. The result is one of the most powerful explorations of tragedy to come out of modern cinema.

Clint Eastwood has crafted a film of unique scope, examining multifaceted aspects of tragedy with a mix of depth and simplicity that, on the one hand, relentlessly examines themes of sin, guilt, victimization and vengeance, while on the other, combines directing and acting so clean and uncluttered that we are not so much audiences to a narrative as we are witnesses to broken lives.

This film cannot be approached lightly. It is unsparing in its intensity. Characters are trapped in the arc of tragedy as inevitably as in a Greek play, unrelieved by either redemption or reprieve. The darkness of the story does not result from some self-indulgent existential auteurism. Rather, it arises out of an uncompromising sense of authenticity. Eastwood takes this tragedy to its honest conclusion and does not give in to the Hollywood hankering for happy endings. This is an intelligent film for mature people who refuse to put up with cop-outs.

The acting is nothing short of inspiring. Sean Penn is unforgettable as a tormented Jimmy who claws his way out of evil through the love of his daughter, only to sink back deeper than ever in the aftermath of her murder. Tim Robbins, in a similarly pitch-perfect performance, is tormented by even crueller demons, and never finds any sort of relief, save for transient moments of grace with his son. Kevin Bacon gives a subtle and restrained performance as a cop who acts as our disjointed moral sense, never sure of guilt or innocence, counting on the law to separate good from evil, and silently praying that that will prove sufficient. The supporting women, from Laura Linney to Marcia Gay Harden turn in performances in every way equal to those of the lead male characters. Character flaws abound, suspicion builds to blind fury, events unfold and vengeance compounds into tragedy until we arrive at an ending nothing short of Shakespearean.

It's a shame that the typical film synopsis leaves the impression that this is another who-dunnit. This film is no more about story than "Hamlet" is just about some guy out to catch his father's murderer. In both cases, focusing on the plot is to entirely miss the point. This film is a modern work of art, sharing a deeper kinship to masterful psychological studies like "Heart of Darkness" or "Crime and Punishment" than to any crime story. What matters is not how characters act, but why they act. We are compelled not by the arc of the story but by the arc of tragedy. We sympathise not with the virtues of the characters, but with their tragic flaws.

Approach this film the way you would "Othello". Then prepare to be moved by a depth of insight rare to our superficial age.

Mystic River was the first movie that I have ever watched that was directed from Clint Eastwood, and I am happy to say that it was worth the time.

Mystic River is very sad, and rather depressing. If you've ever watched the Sleepers, then you'll understand when I say that Mystic River was exactly like that one. Except this time Kevin Bacon was on the right side of the law.

The ending did nothing in making the film lighter or more joyous, instead, it left me even more sad than when the movie began. Not the best way in ending a movie, but thats life I guess, not everything is going to turn out for the better. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if things could have turned out better, and what would have happened instead if such a thing was possible.

I always look forward to seeing Sean Penn, in a movie.
This movie was boring, from beginning to end! I didn't
find the story very interesting, or anything else about
it. Sean Penn, over acted too, not like him to do so.

Finally bought this DVD and watched it over 3 nights, running whole sections over twice. The depth to which this film plumbed my psyche was absolutely unbelievable.

I'm a hard and fast Eastwood fan, but this film surprised me in its layers of meaning. So many issues are on the plate: sexual manipulation, sexual molestation, murder, insanity, love and family, authority and power. Parts of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth intertwine in a lower middle income Roman Catholic neighborhood of Boston. But what stuck with me the most was the ending, without which I think the film's meaning would have been much simpler. In the ending you have two characters, the wives, whose presences up until then have been supporting, all of a sudden taking over. Laura Linney's final monologue and Marcia Gay Harden's mute desperation on the sidelines of the parade were of Shakespearean magnitude. They both left me with a chilling feeling that has haunted me since.

I thank Eastwood for getting such great performances out of his excellent cast.