A noble enterprise.

Rating: 7/10 (23 October 2003)

The first thing to say is that Mystic River certainly deserves its huge
number of plaudits. In an age where challenging pieces of cinema
are few and far between, Eastwood has come up with a darkly
impressive, well-acted thriller with diverse characters and an
undeniable emotional pull. If there is a problem, it is that
Eastwood has made a film better than parts of the story deserve:
occasionally, the level of intensity cannot be reconciled with the
thinness of the plot it is communicating, the net result being that it
drags at times. That said, the story remains absorbing and there
are some fine performances from the leads.