A very effective, intense drama of tragedy. Thumbs up

Rating: Null/10 (15 August 2004)

Minor Spoilers.
Mystic River received many awards and praises from critics all over the country, and I often saw Clint Eastwood in articles in magazines and on TV talking about his movie. I only knew this guy as a hero of the wild west, an old dusty gun. I had also been told that this movie was not a kid movie. Me, being a kid, didn¡¦t know if I could sit through the whole thing, so I tried to pay attention; I didn't want to get bored of this film that got so many good words about. Surprisingly, I didn't even need to try. It grabbed my interest and held it all the way through.
There are three boys, Jimmy, Sean, and Dave, playing hockey outside together, when their ball falls into the sewer. Jimmy comes up with new ideas, like stealing a car and driving it around the block, and writing names in the unhardened sidewalk cement. A man wearing a heavy jacket pulls up in his car. bunch of little punks¨ he says. Dave, who only made out Da on the sidewalk, was told to get in to the car. The three all thought the man was a cop. He wasn't. 4 days locked in a cold cellar with nothing but a sleeping bag, poor Dave had to escape from the child molester. 25 years later, they are all reunited by coincidence. Jimmy is a shop owner with a murdered 19-year old daughter, Katie. Sean Is the police inspector on the case, and Dave is one of the suspects. Brandon is just Ray's¡¨ son. Jimmy had some bad experiences with Just Ray, which cost him time in prison.
From then on, he had a grudge against everyone in the family. Brandon happened to be dating Jimmy¡¦s daughter. When Dave came home really late from the local bar with a cut on his stomach and hand, his reputation for crying wolf and scared behavior got his wife, Celeste, very confused as well. I won¡¦t spoil any more for this is a superb movie with such pure and genuine acting by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon. Almost as if it happened in the real life. I was so absorbed into the movie felt like I was a part of it, as if I was living in the same apartment, a silent spectator. Very, very touching. Definitely one of the best dramas I have ever seen. 8.5/10