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Mystic River (2003)



Mystic River (2003)



10/10



Starring
Sean Penn
Tim Robbins
Kevin Bacon


Directed by Clint Eastwood

Mystic River is a masterpiece, one which Clint Eastwood made sure will leave you feeling messed up and elevated at the same time. The thing that catches you is the acting proficiency of the principal actors. They took their time to study their characters, with Tim Robbins, to me, being the most effective of them all.

Eastwood’s directorial prowess is showcased in this flick; he takes you on a journey of social decadence, the pains of betrayal, and the unlikely implications of child molestation.

Mystic River was shot in Boston, and it is an adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The book and movie plot are about three boys who grow up as friends in Boston—Dave (Tim Robbins), Sean (Kevin Bacon), and Jimmy (Sean Penn). While the boys were playing around in the neighborhood street, Dave was abducted by child molesters who were pretending to be police officers.

After days of regular molestation, Dave escapes and finds his way back home. But the trauma of the molestation messes him up emotionally and mentally, making him a little unstable and hard to understand.

25 years later, Sean has grown to become a homicide detective, Jimmy is an ex-convict who currently runs a convenience store, and Dave has a blue-collar job, still haunted by his abduction. Jimmy and Dave are related by marriage, with Dave marrying Jimmy’s sister.

One night, Jimmy's daughter disappears, and her body is found brutally murdered. Coincidentally, Dave comes home to his wife covered in blood, rattling that he fought off a mugger and "bashed his head into the concrete," possibly killing him. Sean is then assigned to investigate the murder, and the three childhood friends meet up again.

Nominated for six Academy Awards, Sean Penn won Best Actor, and Tim Robbins won Best Supporting Actor (those were the two awards the movie went home with), making Mystic River the first film to win both awards since Ben-Hur in 1959.

The movie also won two Golden Globe Awards for Sean Penn and Tim Robbins in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories. Penn and Robbins also won many more accolades from other, not-so-notable award bodies.

Mystic River is a classic movie that holds its own in the collection of greats. It is one that I advise any movie lover to go buy off the shelf. This is a DVD you’ll want to tell others you own.

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