Well-acted crime mystery

Rating: 8/10 (15 June 2011)

Clint Eastwood directs this crime mystery about three men, and how they're forced apart and brought together again. It's a conventional plot; a murder mystery complete with cops, sunglasses and a red herring. Truth is, there's nothing too special about the plot. The first scene is great, setting the tone and mood as well as giving key information, and the end has bite (in a good way, but not necessarily happy way), but everything in the middle is run-of-the-mill.
What isn't run of the mill is the acting. First things first, I've never like Sean Penn. I've never seen any of his movies, either. I just don't like him. Don't like his look. But he steals the show here. His anger, sadness, and especially his grieving seem absolutely genuine, and as a viewer it's gut-wrenching to watch him cry. I haven't seen many of the other nominees, but he deserves his nomination, if not the win.
Tim Robbins, in one of his major roles not about Shawshank Prison, also performs well. He never cried, or showed much of anything in Shawshank. So it was a nice change to seem him play a shaken, emotionally distressed man. He's very good.
Rounding out the Good,the Bad and the Ugly is Kevin Bacon as the icy cop. It seems I've only seen him in serious roles, like Frost/Nixon. I wasn't convinced with his phone relationship, and thought his reunion at the end was unnecessary. I understand why it was included though, to show that even cops have lives outside the job, as so few seem to do in film.
Speaking of old Clint Eastwood films, the liquor store owner looks like a certain bandito, eh?
I've read around the boards, and Mystic River is deeper than the plot. Much of the character's lives can be extrapolated, so you can make your own minds up about why they do what they do. This is a good film with terrific actors, but other than that it's not too special. 7.8/10