A very mysterious mystic river

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2009)

The film opens with three childhood friends, Jimmy Markum, Sean Devine, and Dave Boyle. In the summer of 1975, these young boys were on the streets of Boston playing some hockey, when a few older guys came and abducted Dave. He became a victim of sexual abuse for a few days until he escaped. Still haunted by the past, Dave becomes a main victim in the case of Katie's death. Reunited after the death of jimmy's daughter, Katie, the three friends seem to find themselves closer than they were before. Sean is the police detective on the case. He has to deal with more than just the typical case files; he has to deal with the victim's daughter, his old best friend.
Jimmy has it sought in his head that he will find the person who had murdered his daughter. A few suspects come up and then get dropped, like her boyfriend. When they find out what gun the bullet came from, an old suspect returns top at the list. The police said the gun belonged to the boyfriend's father, who had a previous history with crime.
This film involved a lot of brain thinking and kept you guessing who was the killer, the entire time. Having the film being portrayed in Boston also made the film to be more believable. The length of the film didn't come into mind at all because the story-line was so involved and detailed that I was completely in the zone of the film the whole time. I enjoyed that they made this film have a "dark" setting; this film would not have had that "special something" if there were vibrant colors all around.
I did not enjoy the ending, only for the fact that everything unfolded very quickly and then there was about ten minutes of film after the story pretty much was done. There wasn't that much to not like, maybe change a view characteristics about some characters, they all seemed to be southern type of people living in the north.
The actors did a great job with telling the story and sending its message. It made it very believable to think that things like that do truly exists, I just wish they didn't seem so well under educated.
Overall, Mystic River was perhaps one of the top films I have seen to date. To me it can be comparable to The Bone Collector, which is a fantastic film. This was also the best film that Clint Eastwood has directed and he captured everything so well. If you're into movies that have a good mystery to it that keep you guessing all the way to the unfolding of who did it, then Mystic River should be your next watch. It has a great cast with Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and Tim Robbins and these guys know how to make a film worth watching. In my eyes this movie deserves 9 out of 10.