Eastwood's best since Unforgiven

Rating: Null/10 (29 October 2003)

Eastwood's Mystic River, set in a fictional Boston burrough aching to be Southy, sets it's sights on Greek Tragedy and nearly makes it there. The film follows three childhood friends, played by Bacon, Penn, and Robins, whose lives are splinter into three seperate paths due to trauma that occurs to one of them.
Eastwood follows these paths up to the present as Jimmy (Penn) runs a neighborhood grocery, Sean (Bacon) is a police officer, and Jimmy (Robbins) walks the streets a shell of a man. The three estranged friends are again brought together when aditional tragedy strikes.
Eastwood is clearly a Hollywood traditionalist, giving these characters a chance to breathe rare in cinema today. The cast is particularly excellent and Penn's work will probably be remembered at Oscar time. Although, at times Robbin's accent and mannerism do become trying (particularly to those native from the often misrepresented Boston area, shame on you Rob Morrow and Kevin Costner)
While the film is clearly a rank above recent Eastwood efforts such as "Blood Work" it does not reach the heights of his masterful Unforgiven. Parts of the script feel overwritten and heavy handed, as characters seem to be spelling out themes instead of letting the audience come to them on their own. Also, the film is fat, and would benefit from 20 minutes or so of trimming, particularly at the multiple finale riddled ending.
Overall, though, we must appreciate a talent like Eastwood as he clearly stands for an era of old fashioned filmmaking. While not quite the classic it strives to be, it is worthwhile nonetheless.