Pretty Solid...but with a critical flaw.

Rating: Null/10 (25 July 2004)

In terms of skillful camera work and top production values, it doesn't get much better than this. Clint Eastwood has done a masterful job as director in creating moments of intense drama, tension and emotion throughout this film.
The Sean Penn-Tim Robbins-Kevin Bacon trio gives terrific performances (with Penn and Robbins especially solid). Laurence Fishburne of "Matrix" fame makes a nice turn here as Bacon's detective partner.
The story centers around the loss of Penn's daughter Katie. Katie is seen only briefly in the film, which is a bit of shame because I would have liked to have established a little more connection to the character before she died. But the "whodunit?" element is only part of the story here, the main story is the now twisted relationship between three former childhood friends and their paranoid and distrust of one another.
For all it's strengths, there is one plot hole that to me really hurts this film. *minor spoiler* The police seize Dave Boyle's(Robbins) car and discover blood in the back seat that is not his, furthering their theory that Dave killed Katie. Now the police could have easily run a DNA test comparing the blood in the car to Katie's blood (as they had access to her body) to determine if she really WAS in Dave's car that night, but there is not even a mention of such a test. *end spoiler*
Despite this, this move is so well done that it still managed to impress me. Usually I get put off by a movie which has skipped/ignored very important facts, but not this time. It may be because I was more interested in the developing backstory of Penn's character Jimmy than in the truth about Katie.
Mystic River is a terrific, emotional and a times disturbing trip into the human psyche. Enjoy it, because they don't make many like this.