This film does not move fast, but it moves with assuredness

Rating: Null/10 (17 October 2003)

No spoilers here, but I do offer a disclaimer: I have found that if you have read the book on which a movie is based, it can color the way you see the film. I read and thoroughly enjoyed Mystic River. The movie is a faithful and intelligent adaptation of the book and therein lies a problem. In order to incorporate the main elements of the narrative, the film is a bit long, and to be honest there are a couple of scenes that are overlong. Clint Eastwood wrote the score - I guess if you are Clint Eastwood, you can do about anything you like - but the music doesn't add anything. While I am dealing with the negatives, I must also add that a very few times the film teeters on the brink of melodrama. Beyond that I have nothing but good things to say. Eastwood's direction is steady, intelligent and sensitive. Most of the settings - indoor and out - are evocative, accurate and even mystical. Kevin Bacon as police detective Sean Devine is terrific. Of the three main characters, his is most centered, most normal, and that's how he plays it. Sean Penn will probably be nominated for Best Actor. The most memorable scene in the film - sadly one being widely shown in the trailers - is Penn's, and he delivers hugely. Tim Robbins' character is maybe the most demanding. His accent is consistent and believable, and he is one of those actors that can act with posture. Lawrence Fishburene, surely one of America's best male actors, is marvelously effective as Bacon's partner. This film isn't a ten, but it is a "must see."