Ruthlessly mediocre for Eastwood

Rating: 4/10 (28 May 2011)

Mystic River starts out with huge potential: a crime thriller, white trash social analysis; serious psychological damage; characters wound together during infancy, which are then, through a series of events, brought together again for the main plot. All of this, plus Clint Eastwood, is enough to make the average viewer anticipate an exceptional cinematographic evening.
Unfortunately, however, the film gets stuck trying to complicate itself and fool the viewer. Much like an Agatha Christie novel, it tries desperately hard to fool the audience in order to produce an extra thrill - and that lack of natural flow really marrs the film.
This feels very much like Eastwood stretching his muscles, getting ready to be great. It is something that would be very good as a mock-up in need of some friendly, but brutal editing. As a nominee for Best Picture, it is just mystifying. Perhaps therein lies the beauty of the title.
There is, however, some excellent acting by Tim Robbins who does a marvellous job portraying psychological damaged. Sean Penn has his moments of brilliance, but all in all nothing out of the ordinary.
All of this said, it is worth giving a go for those who love crime thrillers. In my case, a crime thriller has to be truly brilliant to merit attention, but for those who naturally appreciate the genre and don't mind overlooking a few flaws, it is worth watching.