A sophisticated murder mystery - Awesome

Rating: 9/10 (16 November 2005)

Very rarely does Clint Eastwood deliver a product that is not up to the mark or below average. 'Mystic River' is definitely not one; in fact it is one of his bests ever. In Mystic River he tries to explore how incidents in our childhood affect our lives in a big way, in fact they probably shape our destiny. ( I am sure this was intended - The starting scene where the three kids are embossing their names on a freshly cemented pavement, just before Tim is picked up by the padeophile, is conveying the above message. Later On, a grown up Tim sees the same pavement, with the partially completed names, once again. Surely God is in the details...bravo !! CLINT...bravo!!)
The story is that of three boys growing up in the same neighbourhood. One of them suffers at the hands of a paedophile. He grows up to become a slightly mentally disturbed, lost guy played amazingly well by Tim Robbins. His other two friends become a local don (again played beautifully by Sean Penn) and one a homicide detective (Kevin Bacon). Sean's teenage daughter is murdered and thenstarts a whodunits chase. Both Sean and Kevin want to catch the culprit first. The former wants to seek revenge and the latter to seek justice. Tim's role in the murder is not ruled out as he was in the same bar as the girl just prior to the murder.
The movie is simply amazing to watch for its sheer intensity of acting by Sean and Tim. This is probably Tim's second best performance ever after 'The Shawshank Redemption'. Excellent direction by Clint leaves the audience at the edge of their seats for almost the entire duration of the movie. I will not ruin your suspense by telling you the end.
It is a must watch for the Clint Eastwood and Thriller fans.