Mystic River

Three men were childhood friends when one of them was abducted and molested.   Another grows up to be a man whose daughter is murdered.   The former incident hangs over the events that occur in the wake of the latter.   The work by Penn, Robbins and even Bacon is as good as you’ve heard.   There’s also been a lot of talk about how Eastwood’s approach to violence here is much different than in the films that made him famous, and it’s true.   There’s not actually a lot of violence here, but when it comes it’s not there to entertain or thrill.   It causes pain, it has human consequences, and the audience feels it.

--Oct 21, 2003