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Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden ... see more see more... , Laura Linney , Kevin Chapman , Tom Guiry , Emmy Rossum , Spencer Treat Clark , Andrew Mackin , Adam Nelson , Robert Wahlberg , Jenny O'Hara , Cayden Boyd , Ken Cheeseman , Will Lyman , Michael McGovern , Bill Richards , Patrick Shea , Eli Wallach , Susan Willis , Jim Smith , John Doman , Charley Broderick , Jose Ramon Rosario , Lonnie Farmer , Scott Winters , Cameron Bowen , Tori Davis , Jonathan Togo , Celine Du Tertre , Connor Paolo , Ari Graynor , Tom Kemp , Jason Kelly , Bruce Page , Miles Herter , Shawn Fitzgibbon , Zabeth Russell , Joe Stapleton , Celeste Oliva , Bates Wilder , Douglas Bowen Flynn , Bill Thorpe , Matty Blake , Thomas Derrah , Duncan Putney , Ed O'Keefe , Dave Zee Garlson , Michael Peavey

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the mysterious drama Mystic River is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane and adapted by screenwriter Brian Helgeland. Set in an Irish neighborhood in Boston, Jimmy, Sean, a... read more read more...nd Dave are three childhood friends who are reunited after a brutal murder takes place. Reformed convict Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn) and his devoted wife Annabeth (Laura Linney) find out that their teenage daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum) has been beaten and killed. Jimmy's old friend Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) is the homicide detective assigned to the case, along with partner Whitey Powers (Laurence Fishburne). Jimmy also gets his relatives, the Savage brothers (Adam Nelson and Robert Wahlberg), to conduct an investigation of their own. Jimmy and Sean both start to suspect their old pal, Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins), who lives a quiet life with his wife Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden) but harbors some disturbing secrets. Clint Eastwood won a Golden Coach for Mystic River at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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86% liked it

171,832 ratings

Critics

87% liked it

194 critics

R, 2 hr. 17 min.

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Release Date: October 8, 2003

Keywords: dark, depressing

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DVD Release Date: June 8, 2004

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Stats: 8,851 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (8,851)

  • 76Majikat
    March 26, 2012
    76Majikat
    Directed by Eastwood and boasting an all star cast of some of Hollywood's most talented this is a fairly gritty and believable tale with some pretty decent performances all around. A murder mystery, vigilante theme with a built up back story when mixed together make for intense ... read moreviewing.

    A film that will no doubt make a big impact!
  • FrizzDrop
    August 7, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    Between heartfelt drama and a mystery without the suspense of pure noir, Mystic River is a delayed reaction kind of film. You want to love it right off the bat, and are given good reason with the performances of Penn, Bacon, and Robbins. Still, this plot has none of the true taut... read moreness you'd expect of such powerhouse actors. This glimpse into human behavior isn't very thorough. Sure, Penn is reliable as a bereaved father, but the criminal element that plagues his past is at first only hinted at, and then this complex backstory unfolds in the last half hour much to the viewer's chagrin. Bacon seemingly explains everything that's missing from the plot in conversations between himself and Fishburne, much like a forties era detective film. Robbins is inexplicably strange, morphing from an abused and seemingly unhinged individual with a morose past to a labyrinth of uncertainty we can't perceive from the inside or out. It's very depressing just to be morbid and touchy, but there are beautiful scenes by Penn especially, who whole heartedly deserved his Oscar win. What unsettles is more the blasphemous way the characters react to revelatory pieces of information, just accepting them with little conversation, as if everyone gets murdered, molested, and goes insane on an every day basis. This especially perturbs me when it comes to Laura Linney's performance, still as frazzled as ever, but also quietly dependent on Penn. The ending is slow, and painful to watch, a culmination that is by far the most anti-climactic decision in the film's entirety. There is beauty and angst, but it isn't the thriller you would expect from Eastwood, though he later honed his craft to a fine art.
  • SajinPA
    July 10, 2011
    SajinPA
    In one of his most over-hyped directorial efforts, Eastwood have staged an ensemble cast but only manages to extract mixed performances with varying degrees of credibility from them.
    Bacon gives a convincing performance unlike the rest, though he does end up delivering the most s... read moretupid lines of the movie towards its climax. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins looked more eager just to get back home and start preparing for that speech on how to thank the Academy. Robbins performance in particular, was laughable, making him look not even distinctly related to a living, breathing human being.
    The climax of the movie, instead of a twist-ending, looked downright insulting to the intelligence of viewers, that is to those who possess any.
  • murphmann93
    June 23, 2011
    murphmann93
    Another great Clint Eastwood film. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins was nothing short of amazing and this film made you want to reach out for the characters. Incredibly sad and moving and kept you on the edge of your seat for the entire film. Most definitely a worthy winner for an Acade... read moremy Award and it's got some great twists. Shocking, poignant and a definite masterpiece. Exceptional. Also, Kevin Bacon isn't given enough credit for his role. Outstanding acting on his part.
  • DreamExtractor
    March 2, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    I understood the moral of this great and moving drama
  • rjayhutchinson
    December 29, 2010
    rjayhutchinson
    With a plot that never gets boring and a remarkably exciting climax, the film wins on entertainment value alone. Yet despite this, the story is an emotional one--the humanity and realism of the story are key to the film's success. The mystery cuts a couple corners at times, leavi... read moreng a little more explanation to be desired, but all in all the film is near the top of the charts.
  • jamers2011
    December 7, 2010
    jamers2011
    This is definitely a film that will have you yelling at the TV by the end. It's dark and depressing, but a great thriller nonetheless. It's backed up by a great storyline and an excellent cast. Sean Penn gave a great performance. I'm usually not a big fan of his, but he definitel... read morey deserved the Oscar. If you're a fan of Clint Eastwood films, you cannot miss this one! It's for sure in his best films alongside Million Dollar Baby. One of my favorite films!
  • jagfire
    November 15, 2010
    jagfire
    Top-notch cast in this awesome work of melodrama. I won't even single out any one of these performances because Eastwood has assembled a beastly cast here and each comes out shining.
  • MrMarakai
    September 28, 2010
    MrMarakai
    There have seemingly been no restrictions in Clint Eastwood's directorial armoury, now spanning several decades. He can turn his hand, more than competently and reliably to any genre and this adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel is one of Eastwood's finest, especially in terms of ... read morecharacterisation.
    In a small Boston neighbourhood, three young friends are playing, until a car pulls up and abducts one of them. 25 years later the friends have went their separate ways. Jimmy (Penn) is the local gangster, Sean (Bacon) is a police detective and the abuctee Dave (Robbins) is just trying to keep his life together after the traumatic events of his childhood. All these years later, more traumatic events falls upon these former friends as Jimmy's young daughter is murdered and with Dave displaying some very unusual behaviour, he becomes the prime suspect in Sean's investigation. The traumatic events of their past seem to be, only now in their later years, fully unravelling.
    Admittedly i haven't read Lehane's book and apparently Robbins' character is given more of a back story which makes more sense to his character and his actions and has less of a whodunnit stroryline. That being said, the mystery involved in the perpetrator of the murder is the film's weakest link and the tenuous revelation of the murderer is very unconvincing which almost threatens to undo the whole thing. Thankfully though, Eastwood holds it together despite that major plot discrepancy and the film is ultimately a character study in the soul searching and what-if's throughout their lives. The whole ensemble put in fine performances but none more so than Sean Penn as the emotionally afflicted and grief ridden father. He was robbed of an Oscar a few years previously for his magnificent turn in "Dead Man Walking" but here gives a similiar emotive and heart wrenching performance and thoroughly deserves his 1st Oscar this time around. Eastwood also directs with consummate ease and adds another powerful and thought provoking film to his credentials.
    It could have been a classic but unfortunately has a major flaw in the denouement and like the very fine performances, it's hard to forget.
  • garyX
    August 11, 2010
    garyX
    Three childhood friends who share the memory of a traumatic event are brought together once more when one of their children is murdered. Clint Eastwood once again proves he is one of the best directors working in Hollywood with this extremely well acted and written crime drama. T... read morehe characters on display are far more sophisticated than those found in your average mainstream thriller, and the top notch cast all get to demonstrate their thespian chops with plenty of meaty dialogue as Clint cranks up the suspense with consummate skill. I personally have always found Penn a little unconvincing and his performance here is a little over-ripe as well, but he is a suitably intense protagonist. Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne are totally believable as the detectives on the case, very much in the tradition of The Wire and Oscar winner Tim Robbins is the stand out as the traumatized abductee who is beginning to fear for his sanity. My one criticism would be that I thought that the epilogue killed the mood somewhat, but as a whole it is head and shoulders above the usual cop thriller fare.

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Critic Reviews

Peter Rainer
August 7, 2004
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

Sean Penn is so frighteningly good in this movie that he outdoes even the best of his earlier work. Full Review

Bill Muller
November 14, 2003
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic

Works as a straight-up detective story, and the acting is often breathtaking.

Jonathan Rosenbaum
October 24, 2003
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Too depressing to fill audiences with delight, but it does seem to validate questionable attitudes, especially an indifference to the suffering of innocent people and a willingness to shoot first and ... Full Review

Roger Moore
October 17, 2003
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Solid, rarely showy performances, meticulously recreated detective work and moments of pure unadulterated grief accent this whodunit, a movie that will have those who haven't read the book fooled for ... Full Review

Philip Wuntch
October 17, 2003
Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News

Contains so many layers that you'll want to see it more than once. It's one for the memory books. Full Review

Tom Long
October 17, 2003
Tom Long, Detroit News

There is depth in this movie, and fine acting. But even more intriguing, there are questions... questions with no clear answers.

Lisa Kennedy
October 17, 2003
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

Smart, hard-charging, compassionate. Full Review

Terry Lawson
October 17, 2003
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

The experience of being so absorbed in a movie and the lives of the people in it, of trusting a director and a writer and actors to take me places completely unexpected, is so rare that I savored ever... Full Review

Rex Reed
October 16, 2003
Rex Reed, New York Observer

A solid whodunit, with disturbing, provocative, take-home insights into human nature. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
October 16, 2003
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

A masterpiece of the first order. Full Review

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    • Dave Boyle: Are things looking any better on that Sprite....Sean?
    • Jimmy Markum: I remember, I was more afraid of my little daughter than I ever was of being in prison.
    • Jimmy Markum: We bury our sins here, Dave. We wash them clean.
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Mystic River Trivia

  • Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon played Dave and Sean in 'Mystic River' (2003). Which actor played the character Jimmy?  Answer »
  • He was in I am Sam, Mystic River, She's so Lovely  Answer »
  • Who played the cop in Mystic River?  Answer »
  • Sean Penn Won An Oscar for his role in Mystic River ?  Answer »
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