Keeps you thinking

Rating: 8/10 (15 June 2009)

At first I didn't think Mystic River was going to be about anything really interesting. Just the opposite, it held my attention for the entire movie. At first I immediately thought that Davie was the culprit, and my thoughts stayed that way until the last 15 minutes of the movie. The acting was nothing short of spectacular. It's part of the reason why I started to question who killed Katie halfway through the film. From beginning to end this movie makes you question your judgment skills to know what's right or wrong. The kidnapper at the beginning seemed like a genuine cop, until he got overly angry about some kids writing their names in the cement and told only Davie to get in the car. Who knew when, or if, Davie would ever get out of that basement. One thing was for sure, Davie would have problems that would become apparent during the film. I almost believed the story that he had to defend himself from a mugger early that one morning, until the news of Katie's death. After that I made a swift judgment that Davie had killed her and started to wonder what would happen to friendship between the three guys. Katie's death did come as a surprise, at first I thought she was going to get away with her boyfriend and the movie would go in a different direction. As soon they found her body in the abandoned bear habitat, I could see so many bad things that could happen in the plot. Some of the stuff that did happen was the fact that Davie kept changing his story, which only made him more suspect. Then Sean wouldn't listen to his partner, Whitey, who first started saying that Dave could be the killer. Since they were childhood friends, Sean's denial that Dave killed Katie only made things worse. It was very sad that Dave kept changing his story and for some reason, couldn't tell the truth. The most predictable part of the movie was when Jimmy got word that Dave might be the killer, and the saddest part was when Celeste told Jimmy she thought Dave was the culprit. She could have gone to Sean, but instead she went to the loose cannon who had done jail time. From then on you knew something bad was going to happen to Dave, and sure enough, Jimmy gets his gang together to interrogate and eventually kill Dave. Just as most of the watchers of this movie Jimmy passed judgment on Dave without looking at good evidence and ended up making a big mistake. Curiously, the movie doesn't end with Dave's death. It goes on to show the aftermath and hints on what might happen to Jimmy, Sean, and their families. I highly recommend this movie if you like films that make you think and have great actors who are completely in their element.