Sleepers recycled

Rating: 7/10 (1 February 2004)

Mystic River is a good movie but far from an great movie. Sean Penn is amazing. It is Penn that makes the movie good. The story is dark like the characters. Having it portrayed in Boston makes the story real and even darker than it being in a fictional setting. Is this the best movie of the year....no. It is one of Clint Eastwood's better films and most dramatic. Compared to Unforgiven, it is much more dramatic and real. Still, Mystic River fails to hold its audience close to its end. Like Sleepers, the subject matter of the post lifestyle of the abused is present. I was hoping for more side stories, and I got it. But, like Sleepers, I wasn't taken over by the overall performances of the cast, besides Penn. If the Academy is smart, Sean Penn will walk away with his first Academy Award.....maybe.