Beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2005)

There is no doubt in the fact Clint Eastwood is slowly rising from an actor in Westerns to the director of some of the most powerful films made. First, Eastwood made Unforgiven, which was praised by viewers and critics everywhere. It was a good thing Eastwood was able to follow it up.
Sure, Mystic River may have been at least a decade past Unforgiven, but it is still a masterpiece cinema.
After a misfortune happened in their childhood, three boys: Sean, Dave and Jimmy are separated from each other. Dave becomes the victim of child molestation, and grows up being paranoid. Sean grows up to be a detective. Jimmy grows up to have a daughter. After Jimmy's daughter is murdered, Sean is on the case, and suspects Dave.
Here is a warning for all you viewers who are ready to watch it. Mystic River is not a light film. Mystic River is a dark tragedy about murder, paranoia and suspicion. Even the scenery has a dark a feel to it. It looks like the cameraman put something dark over the lens to make the scenery seem more gray. The characters all talk very quietly most of the time (put on captions if you can) and all have childhood secrets hidden in them.
Sean, Jimmy and Dave are all well-crafted and deep characters. That's a necessary addition to this film.
Sean, Dave and Jimmy slowly learn to mistrust each other and the outcome is dramatic and tragic. The darkness slowly embraces you, and let you get a feel for the film. It takes the tragedy of a single death, and lets it cause a whole lot of pain and trouble. Mystic River will move you, and will keep you watching until the very end.
10/10