Sadly, a bit overrated

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 2003)

Not collossally so, but enough that I left the theater with somewhat of an empty feeling, like I wanted to be affected by it more. It is all the more regrettable that I say this because the individual elements of the movie are all so good.
Clint Eastwood hits a home run as director, giving us his best work since Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and probably since Unforgiven. This film demonstrates a particular gift he has for probing the darkest depths of man and exposing what he will do when pushed too far. His style is simple and elegant, and his ethic uncompromising.
You won't see a better ensemble this year than the one lined up for this picture. Sean Penn gives the performance of his life, one that certainly should not be overloked at the Oscars next March. Tim Robbins's performance is his best since Shawshank. The emotional fragility and coldness of his character and the delicate balance between hate and misery he feels are utterly real and unrelentingly harsh. Marcia Gay Harden is also stellar, far outdoing her Oscar-winning role in Pollack.
Brian Helgeland's script is also excellent, and his dialogue poetic, though I think that some of the rawness of Dennis Lehane's novel was compromised in the transition. This may be where it went a little awry for me, as I felt the nagging feeling that I wanted it to challenge me more, that I wanted it to be more brutal, more unforgiving, more REAL.
And I say this while completely recognizing the fact that Clint Eastwood has made an excellent film. The film is difficult to take the whole way through, and as in real life a lot of the time, the characters find no easy answers to their questions. Mystic River does not go easily, but I would not have minded if it had gone even less so.
8/10