One of the best films of the last decade

Rating: 10/10 (6 July 2013)

When you mix powerhouse performers like Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon under the direction of the legendary Eastwood together, you'll get a cocktail that will surprise, shock and thrill you during its two hours runtime before the day after kicks in with full force.
The narrative evolves around three childhood friends that were torn apart due to a tragedy, and are getting reunited after 30+ years when one of them finds his daughter murdered and mutilated. One of them (Kevin Bacon) has become a cop, one (Sean Penn) has become a notorious criminal and the last one (Tim Robbins) is still recovering from the horrific tragedy years earlier. We can already see that their different roles are in conflict, and the tension escalates dramatically when one of them is connected to the murder somehow. During the main plot, captivating smaller stories are being dug up during Bacon's police investigation, all of the them connects somehow towards the breathtaking end of the flick. It's well-made drama at its very core, masterful.
Eastwood directs the movie gently and well. The camera is steady and shows some amazing landscape-shots of Boston, its quite beautiful.
What is there to say about the performances except "wow"? Penn and Robbins' Oscars were very well deserved. Penn manages to catch the fragile balance between a tough mobster and a grieving father, one scene in particular on a porch shows why he's one of the greatest living actors today. Robbins manages to catch the emotionally conflicted character so well that your heart goes out to him. Honorable mentions goes to the amazing supporting cast, especially Harden and Linney's portrayals as grieving and confused wives.
If you haven't seen this movie, do so. Eastwood catches man's raw, brutal nature and leaves with a conclusion so satisfying and shocking that makes "Mystic River" a movie you'll never forget.
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