Strong story but overall lacking bite

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2003)

Directed by Clint Eastwood, Mystic River is about the murder of a teenage girl, and the hunt to find her killer. An all-star cast of Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishbourne and Sean Penn appear in this one, with a good selection of character actors also featured. Consequently the performances are universally extremely good, and mutual respect is going on with no one attempting to upstage anyone else - no egos on display here. The story is good, with decent enough plot progression which does start to plod a little in the middle but which does enough to keep you interested. The main problem with this movie is Eastwood's direction, which is really very bland. The cinematography is very insipid, and there are a few aerial shots which seem contrived and unnecessary. The general look of the film is a bit uninspiring. Eastwood needs to develop his own style rather than being so generic.
Overall it's a decent enough story, but lacks killer punch due to a combination of the plod in the middle and Eastwood's direction. Not as magnificent as we've been led to believe, but worthy nonetheless.