Promising start, botched ending.

Rating: 6/10 (25 October 2003)

Mystic River starts with a gripping and dramatic scene, and this tone persists throughout most of the film. This is by no means an "enjoyable" film in the literal sense. It deals with troubling subjects such as pedophilia, murder, and revenge. However, for most of the film, the story is absorbing and believable, the acting is superlative, and the personalities and motivations of the major characters are well developed. About mid-way through the film, I was agreeing with most of the other reviewers who have praised the film and recommended it for Oscar consideration.
However, with the long, drawn-out, ant-climatic, and even dishonest ending; my assessment of the film crashed from "outstanding" to "mediocre". In the third-last scene, there is a horrifying moment when two of the characters are speaking, and the resolution of the murder and revenge plot-lines become clear to both. THIS is the true climax of the film, and it should have ended there..... even the setting of this scene ties back to the start of the film. However, it appears that either the author of the book or the screenwriter was so pleased with his work, that he didn't want to see it end; because there are two totally superfluous scenes which not only add nothing to the story, but they also effect an unbelievable, depressing, and unexpected "morality shift" in two of the major characters. There is also a "side-story" throughout the film involving one of the major characters and his absent wife. This subplot is also somewhat resolved at the end, but the problem is, who cares? The subplot was one of the few weak points of the first part of the film, and focusing on it at the end simply degrades the whole experience.
Nice try Clint, but 10 minutes lopped off the end would have resulted in an outstanding, moving, and thought-provoking film.
As-is, it rates 6 out of 10.