Don't be influenced by the cast...

Rating: Null/10 (30 January 2004)

Who would have ever thought Clint Eastwood would direct Movies one day? But he did - several all ready. The man is an American Icon, a hero and he wants his film to be very similar to what he represents. Mystic River is indeed mystic because no one knows where it's going and what kind of river it's supposed to be. Is it a movie about child abuse, a movie about husbands and wives, a movie about a father's love to his daughter, a movie about violence? All these pretty extreme topics are introduced and not one of them is resolved in the end - the audience is left with a huge pile of unresolved themes.This movie is highly overrated, and the only reason for that is the very talented group of actors who really struggle to give this River a flow - without any success.
This is where bad directing comes in - Here's a hollywood icon that puts a very epic- like score into a film that wants to be independent. He fills it up with several themes, shoots scenes that are so unnecessary, not even a film student would make such mistakes (Paraphrase: Penn: I know you death has something to do with my past but I don't know what it is). What is this movie about? I don't know. What do I learn from it? What it means to have a great cast and a bad director. What do I take home with me? An empty stomach after after watching a river going nowhere for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Mystic.