Plainly dark and entertaining

Rating: 9/10 (19 October 2003)

The horrific images throughout the film offset some of the beautiful visual fly-bys. Both are very simple and natural, much like the overall film itself. The drama is real, but simple. The music is appropriate for each scene, and scored by Eastwood himself, but it's simple.
"Mystic River" is a very good story and each scene is interesting. It's one of the few 135 minute-plus films that I've actually sat through, and it's one of the few films I've actually paid money to see (because I had read some comments and was excited about its potential).
I don't think many will dislike the film. The acting's nicely done, and, as mentioned above, the visuals are great. It's worth the $8, and worth $5 to rent it in 2004 when it comes out on video as well. I don't go to the movies more than ten times a year, so you can imagine that a film has to be pretty damn good if I'm going to pay all the money to go to a theater.
In a nutshell: "Mystic River" is a dark, disturbing, entertaining, thought-provoking film that you should definitely check out.