"Mystic River" is not that mystical.

Rating: 3/10 (28 October 2003)

"Mystic River" was "not one of the best films of 2003, nor one of the worst films of2003, it was just there in the middle.
I'm still scratching my head and wondering what all the buzz and fuss is about in "Mystic River", except mabey for the over the top performance by some of today's hottest talents. The whole film like one big case study in Acting 101.
Like I have stated the only fun in this plodding production is trying to figure out who gives the most over the top performance. Is it Sean Penn, complete with gnashing teeth and tightly flexed biceps, doing a second-rate Kirk Douglas? Or is it Laurence Fishburne trying to be the next Sidney Poitier for a new generation? Or is it Marcia Gay Harden, whose gaping mouth and wide eye stare recall a fish on ice? Or Laura Linney, who fills her mouth with so many flattened vowels that her Boston accent comes off as fake as Kevin Costner's in "13 Days"? & Ms. Linney really doesn't do anything in the film until the final 10 minutes anyways. I kept getting the feeling through out the film like Clnt kept saying on the set of "Mystic River" more acting more acting less plot less plot!
I've always thought that Clint Eastwood is a fine actor, and often a fine director, too. But most of the time when he adapts books that he claims to love into movies, I'm alternating between boredom and disbelief. "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" was such a fascinating, insidious and evilly fun little story... until Eastwood got a hold of it.
The story was flat, predectiable and by the end I felt "Mystic River" lacked something big. It was like eating a slice of cake with out the frosting. When you finally find out who murdered Jimmy's daughter (after a grueling 2 hours and 15 minutes), it's contrived, convoluted and laughable.
Mystic River may not be the "worst" movie I've seen all year, but it certainly is the most dull, dreary and disappointing (I give it a generous C-, in case you haven't guessed).
I didn't hate Mystic River - I was just incredibly disappointed by the film.