Three Boston boyhood friends, who have drifted apart over the years, meet again in unfortunate circumstances. Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn), a shopkeeper with a criminal past, and David Boyle (Tim Robbins) still live in the same neighbourhood, while Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) has become a police detective. Their lives intersect when Sean and his partner, Whitey Powers (Laurence Fishburne), investigate a murder in the neighbourhood.
I found Sean Penn's acting a rather irritating set of twitches (he won the Best Actor Academy Award for this role, so what do I know?), Tim Robbins is great as the damaged David, while Kevin Bacon, who is given some dramatic space in a subplot with his estranged wife, does an acceptable job. Marcia Gay Hayden is incredible as David's frightened wife, Celeste, and Laura Linney has a curiously underwritten but critical role as Jimmy's wife, Annabeth.
With such an A-list of stars, and Clint Eastwood as director, it's not surprising that 'Mystic River', is for the most part, an engrossing drama and mystery. Shot in a prosaic style by Tom Stern, the gloomy inner suburbs of Boston, its surrounding parklands and the titular river, captures the sad mood of characters. All the overwhelming gloom and sadness, with no relief, becomes a bit wearing and the climax is rather inevitable.
4 out of 5 stars.
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