This is only my reaction to the film w/o spoilers!

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2003)

I did like Tim Robbins' performance best. Sean Penn was very well cast and did a lot of passionate manipulations and contortions..but would have benefited from some directorial boundaries. (He was better and fresher in "I Am Sam") Mystic River seems to be a symbol of our brainwashed times: 'America is a dark hopeless place where there is no redemption'. Not even one flicker of light exists..Not one smile..all exaggerated overdramatizing 'Oscar performances'. There is no such thing as coincidence..Nowhere on the planet could there be that many wretched miserable people, with wretched, hopeless lives in one place, in one movie. Don't see this movie if you are in a depressed state of mind. There are no clowns in this parade, only puppets "ACTING" like there is a reason for Armageddon Now. At least it gave actors unlimited angst possibilities. But it also opens an unwary public to an incredibly DARK and hopeless America, with no hope of redemption..In the final view, who benefits from an American Tragedy like this, coming on the heels of 9/11? Oh well the audiences can always 'drown' themselves in Mystic River. Coincidentally, WHY a Christmas release??? In time for 2003 Awards, or a way to blow Christmas away?