The Best Detective Film of the Decade

Mystic River (2003)

There are some movies that inspire me to go back and read the novel the screenplay was adapted from. There are even fewer films that I see in the theatre twice. For this film I did both of these.

Mystic River is not necessarily a “fun” movie to watch, but it is great storytelling, and it has both great directing and great acting.

The director is Mr. Hollywood himself, Clint Eastwood. As a director (and as an actor as well), I either love Eastwood films or loathe them. I loved Unforgiven, Gran Torino, Play Misty for Me, and A Perfect World (a very underrated film). I loathed Million Dollar Baby and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (which is a shame because I adore the novel). Needless to say I thought he did justice to Denis Lehane’s gripping novel.

The story follows the lives and the relationships of three men Jimmy (Sean Penn, Oscar), Dave (Tim Robbins, Oscar), and Sean (Kevin Bacon). A tragic event occurred in their childhood when Dave is kidnapped and sexually assaulted. In the present day, each has taken a different path in life, but their lives interact when Jimmy’s daughter is found murdered in their Boston neighborhood. The rest … well you should watch the film, or read the book. I recommend both.

The supporting cast is also stellar: Laurence Fishburn, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney. However, when Penn and Robbins are on the screen they steal the stage. Penn, as noted earlier, won his first Oscar (I thought he should have won prior to this for Dead Man Walking, which happened to star Robbins’ wife Susan Sarandon who did win an Oscar) and cemented his status as one of the greatest actors of his generation. Robbins role doesn’t have the “Oscar moment” as Penn does (when he sees his murdered daughter);however, his performance is brilliant nonetheless.

This isn’t a movie to watch when you’re feeling down, but if you want to see some fine acting from some of the most talented actors working today (directed by a legend no less), slide this into the DVD player and enjoy.