Review of Mystic River (2003) by José C — 10 Jun 2015
Tonality has always been the weak-link in Eastwood movies, but with a Hedgeland script based off Lehane source material and a powerful cast, almost by proxy, Eastwood made his most tonal film to date. 2003's Mystic River reunites three estranged childhood friends after the daughter of one is found murdered in a well.
Sean Devine investigates the murder of the girl whose father, Jimmy Markum, is not only a local gangster, but one of Devine's closest childhood friends. Complicating matters even further is the nagging suspicion that the crime may have been committed by Dave Boyle, who is also Jimmy's brother-in-law.
It comes across as a Days of our Lives take on noir, but few authors can spin literary gold out of pulp as reliably as Lehane, and with Eastwood's flinty direction providing a solid foundation for his stellar cast, Mystic River is a rare thing; a tense, twisty, high-quality, honest-to-goodness mystery.
This review of Mystic River (2003) was written by José C on 10 Jun 2015.
Mystic River has generally received very positive reviews.
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