Mystic River: Realistic, Realistic!

Rating: 9/10 (15 June 2009)

This great film directed by Client Eastwood won two acting Oscar and was nominated for several more. Eastwood does not play a character in this film, and there's no reason he should considering he already has so much talent to work with. The three interconnected central characters Jimmy (Sean Penn), Sean (Kevin Bacon) and Dave (Tim Robbins) as little kids used to play on the street of their neighborhood. One day Dave was abducted before their friend's eyes by two men who abused him for days in a basement. Later, Dave married and had a son but the terrible and painful memory of his childhood haunted him and causes his death. Jimmy owns a liquor store, married for the second time with three daughters one from his previous marriage. His daughter got murdered at the age of nineteen. This event is what brings the path of their life to the same neighborhood again, "The place that mark who they are". Sean became a police detective, who is investigating Jimmy's daughter murder. Dave became one of the primary suspects. What makes Mystic River a great film is how it gradually digs deeper into the story revealing bits and pieces of information to finally surprise the audience with a dramatic, unexpected and a great finally. The knot feeling in your stomach that is experienced during the time and even after watching this movie is caused by the facts of real life used in the movie. Facts that parents are always terrified of. Mystic River also shows in perfect sense how the past can affect our future. I would recommend this movie to the fixed news viewer. Reality, reality!