When the daughter (Emmy Rossum) of ex-con Jimmy Marcus (Sean Penn) is murdered, two of his childhood friends from the neighbourhood are involved. Dave (Tim Robbins), a blue-collar worker, was the last person to see her alive, while Sean (Kevin Bacon), a homicide detective, is heading up the case. As Sean proceeds with his investigation, Jimmy conducts one of his own through neighbourhood contacts. Eventually, Jimmy suspects Dave is the culprit and considers taking the law into his own hands.
Mystic River has been recommended to me many times by many people. I don't know why, but the title made it sound like a Stephen King story, and that is probably why I had never bothered to see it; while I used to love reading Stephen King books, the movies were always pretty mediocre or cringe. Even as I watched the opening scene, there was an eerie sinister vibe that had me expecting the film to go in a supernatural direction. I can't really say whether I was disappointed or not that it didn't, but it tells you a lot about the type of tension that you can expect from this film.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, Mystic River stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon, with Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, and Laurence Fishburne in support. Unlike, The Mule or Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood does not have an acting role in this film, only functioning as Director and Producer. Eastwood is often able to elicit greater performances from his cast when his focus is purely on those behind-the-scenes roles, so the potential for this film is certainly there.
The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning two of those for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tim Robbins). That is also generally indicative of a high-quality drama.
The thing that makes Mystic River work really well, are the implications. There is actually very little that happens on screen. Despite several plot driving events, they are not shown on screen; only talked about between characters. In many scenarios, this would make the film boring, but the amount of dramatic tension that Penn, Gay Harden, and Robbins bring into their performances really ups the tension and drama. It's interesting that Sean Penn's performance is so boisterously overdramatic. On the one hand, it feels so out of place that it doesn't really fit; it feels fake. On the other hand, the death of a daughter is a horribly traumatic event, and the performance places more gravitas on the crime scenes that we don't physically get to see.
The magic in the story is in how it playfully omits information. It leaves so much to the imagination, leading the viewer blindly towards a series of equally possible endings. It has the excitement and curiosity of a crime mystery, with the tension and suspense of a dramatic thriller. The entire film hinges on the success of the bar scene with Tim Robbins, and it is done so well. It's a short scene, that again only shows you so much, and leaves the audience to fill the blanks themselves.
Almost theatrical in nature, Mystic River has thrilling acting performances that keep you engaged. The cinematography and score fail to grab your attention by comparison, in what feels like a very dark and drab film; in that respects, it matches the content of the film very well.