not a masterpiece but a real come back

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 2003)

After Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Eastwood seemed to have made less personal movies. But with Mystic River he's directed a movie reminding us that he was the guy who directed movies such as Bird, Unforgiven or the Bridges of Madison County. Mystic River is not a masterpiece but it's vintage Eastwood and it owes it to two things: the movie is shot with a real sense of what great classic filming is and the screenplay by Brian Helgeland. This screenplay develops lots of intersting themes: the transmission of evil through the links of blood and friendship, the way violence and the desire for revenge is reproducing eternally, the observation of small towns, their rumours, their boredom. The pessimism of the movie towards the part of evil there's in every human being is reminiscent of Fritz Lang. Overall, the tone is very dark but there's some funny moments, especially the cameo of Eli Wallach. But what prevents the movie from equalling Unforgiven is the interpretation of Sean Penn and Tim Robbins which look too much "trying to make an Actor's studio performance" and an uneven score. Anyway, it should have won the Best Screenplay award in Cannes rather than horrible "les Invasions Barbares". Recommended. 8,5/10