Mystic Tragedy

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2009)

Mystic River is a very mysterious and tragic film. The mood of the movie is very dark, suspenseful, and chilling. The movie starts out with three boys playing stickball in a rough section of Boston, known as East Buckingham. Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn), Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins), and Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) always did what most boys do in their neighborhood. Nothing exciting ever happened until one day Dave was forced to take the ride that would change all their lives forever. The boys all stopped spending time together and eventually grew apart. Their lives all turned in different directions.
Now twenty-five years later, yet another life-altering event, the murder of Jimmy's daughter, brings them all back together again. Sean has become a cop, and he and his partner are now assigned to unravel this mysterious crime. Jimmy, now full of rage, wants to find his daughters murderer. Sean must stay a couple steps ahead of him so no one gets killed.
Dave comes home late one night with blood all over him. The same night Jimmy's daughter, Katie, was murdered. Dave's wife, Celeste, helps him clean everything up. The next day Dave starts to act weird and becomes distant. Celeste now thinks that something's up and he may be the killer of Katie. Because of Dave's terrifying past, he is now a suspect in the mysterious crime.
I loved the film. Clint Eastwood did an amazing job directing it. The scenes, setting and story plot are fantastic. The music keeps you on your toes and was perfect for this movie. Mystic River is full of suspense and mystery.
For me the film was a little to long. There is not to much I would change about it though. This was my favorite movie out of all the films we have seen so far. I really did not like how the movie ended.
I believe all the actors did a phenomenal job playing their roles. Sean Penn did an excellent job playing the enraged father, Jimmy. Tim Robbins did fantastic as the disturbed Dave. Kevin Bacon did amazing playing the role as the determined cop Sean. Marcia Gay Harden played the role as Celeste. Celeste is Dave's wife in the movie, and did a fantastic job acting scared, nervous, and suspicious of Dave's late night out. Laura Linney as the role of Annabeth. In the film, Annabeth is Jimmy's wife, and does an amazing job acting strong, tough, and very protective. Then playing the role as Sean's partner Whitey is Laurence Fishburne. In the movie she is a homicide detective and stands by Sean's side trying to unravel the murder.
Anyone who enjoys suspenseful, mysterious movies should watch this one. Clint Eastwood did an amazing job not only getting the right actors for this film, but an awesome job directing it. You could not ask for a better movie. It has its twists and turn to keep you guessing on who murdered Katie. This is one of my favorite movies. I can't believe how the movie ended. I rate this movie a 10 out of 10!! Word Count: 522