Exudes quality

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2004)

SPOILERS
Having slated murder mystery 'Gosford Park' in an earlier comment I am now about to lavishly praise what Clint and his crew have achieved with this one. Where 'Mystic River' is similar to 'Gosford Park' is that it is more than just a murder mystery film but it does not get to big-headed or distracted by what it is trying to do, as Altman's film does.
I was instantly gripped by this, from the first frame to the last, and think that it is now about time Clint's directorial talents start to be mentioned ahead of his stereotyped acting roles. When directing is totally immersed in his characters, which is a breath of fresh air in these modern blockbuster times, but does not get too obsessed to allow the audience to lose focus on the plot. And this film has a seriously good plot.
Although you always kind of knew the killer would not be Dave (Tim Robbins giving the insecure performance he has excelled with in the past, but this time with a psychotic edge) it was much harder to predict just who else it could have been. This is due to the wonderful subtlety of Clint's direction combined with a clever screenplay adaptation by Helgeland. In the thrilling parallel narrative climax you become so involved, as you urge Robbins to somehow convince Sean Penn's Jimmy that he did not do it, that when the gunshot hits home, and that flash of light explodes onto screen, it is literally like snapping suddenly out of a nightmare.
The performances clearly warrant special praise. Penn was terrific, Robbins was almost as good, whilst Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne, although with less challenging roles were still convincing in portraying their cop partner relationship. The actress who played Robbin's wife and the lad who played Brendan were also on a par with the big Hollywood players.
I did not think there was much need for the final ten minutes. It should have finished with Penn walking away up that road, mirroring the opening act. The sub-plot of Kevin Bacon's wife not speaking on the phone was necessary to give him more personality as one of the three kids grown up, but was dealt with all wrong and lead to an overly sappy ending. However this is the only major flaw in Clint's near masterpiece.