Surely not like every other movie.

Rating: 10/10 (7 December 2008)

Clint Eastwood, made famous by his portrayal of inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan, has directed over 20 movies so far, including films such as The Rookie, Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, but I think Mystic River is by far his best work so far. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins both won Oscars for their roles in this drama that is sure to surprise every viewer.
Mystic River is one of those few movies that is focused on triggering emotions and giving insights into what human beings are really capable of. The plot itself is focused around three former childhood friends, Jimmy, Sean and Dave, who are reunited under less than pleasant circumstances when Jimmy's daughter ends up murdered. The murder is investigated by Sean and his partner Whitey. Dave becomes the main suspect when he comes home to his wife covered in blood, confessing that he fought and possibly killed someone who tried to mug him. As you can imagine, no one believes him, even his own wife. It's not everyday in a small town that two people get killed on the same day, and the families involved happen to know each other.
This conflict is paralleled by a horrible event that happened in their past. When they were just kids, they were approached by two men pretending to be cops, and they took Dave and molested him for two whole days. The story hints that similar to the way vampires create other vampires, getting molested often causes urges to molest as well.
This movie is more about what happens between the three childhood friends than the solution of the conflict. Although it is eventually solved, in a way, there is no real closure because we are uncertain as to what happens after the killer is found. Jimmy is angry, and clearly states that he will kill whoever did this to his daughter, and it is obvious that he means it considering that he is an ex-con. Sean doesn't believe that his friend Dave is capable of doing this and is constantly arguing with his partner, Whitey, who thinks it is obvious that Dave is the killer. Viewers can tell from the beginning that Dave is still not over what happened to him in his childhood, and probably never will be.
Eastwood as a director is famous for using shadows and darkness to evoke emotions or to point suspicions on certain characters. When Dave comes home to his wife, the light is cast on him in such a manner that you are led to believe that he is surely the killer. This movie also uses a lot of downward angles on things like the river and people like Dave to put a sense of uncertainty and depth in these things and people.
It is rare to find as good of acting as is present in this film. Everyone who gets a chance to should definitely watch this film. It is always an experience to watch something that can actually make us feel, instead of just entertaining us. This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I have to honestly give it a 10.