Mystic River DVD Review:

Childhood friends Jimmy (Penn), Sean (Bacon) and Dave (Robbins) had drifted apart after they went through a truly horrific event. Years later the three are brought together after the murder of Jimmy’s daughter Katie (Rossum). Sean is the lead investigator in the case and Dave’s wife Celeste (Gay Harden) offers comfort to her cousin Annabeth (Linney), Jimmy’s wife. Sean has a few leads in the case but Jimmy is starting his own neighbourhood investigation, as he wants swift retribution.

Clint Eastwood makes a return to directorial form with a slow paced, multi-layered thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, this is the story of three childhood friends driven apart by a traumatic event that would shape the rest of their lives. Three stories run parallel, interweaving to advance the plot and reveal more of the mystery but throw up constant red herrings and misdirection, to keep you gripped to the events unfolding on screen.

Eastwood has brought together a top-notch cast to bring this tense novel to life. Three of the best actors in the 40+ generation grace the screen and make the movie all that more believable. Sean Penn gives another tour-de-force performance as the grieving father Jimmy. At first you are drawn into his loss, thinking that he is little more than a simple shop owner, struck by tragedy but he is much more than that. This is testament to Penn’s ability to breathe life into a character, giving him so many layers and unknowns that you never know where he is going or what he is going to do next. The very underrated Kevin Bacon moves away from his usual villainous roles to give a very assured and understated performance as Sean. Charged with investigating his friend’s daughter’s murder, Bacon expresses the character’s conflicting emotions superbly as he battles with his personal feelings about the situation and doing his job. Playing Dave, Tim Robbins takes the character to the edge of darkness as he tries to come to terms with events from the past and present. He shows again what a good character actor he is, as we see Dave fall into the precipice he had be balancing on the edge of for so many years.

The three principal actors make the movie worth watching alone but Eastwood has surrounded them with great support. Laurence Fishburne is the voice of reason in the investigation as Sean’s partner Whitey. Marcia Gay Harden proves that her Oscar win wasn’t a one off with a powerful performance as Dave’s troubled wife. Laura Linney’s role, while limited, is an important one and she tries and justifies the action that Jimmy has taken. Young actors Emmy Rossum, Tom Guiry and Spencer Treat Clark as also very well cast and hold their own amongst their very renowned peers.

The pacing of the movie is very slow and methodical, which could be off putting to some viewers but this is the film’s strength. Plot revelations and case discoveries are given to your gradually making the ending very hard to predict. This really gets you thinking and as you formulate one theory, the story takes another twist, throwing you in a completely different direction. This testament to the excellent source novel and the sterling screenplay by Brian Helgeland as the movie has you hooked from the first reel.

Mystic River is a superbly acted, beautifully directed thriller that shows again what a great filmmaker Clint Eastwood can be. While its slow pace and unnecessarily extended finale might not be to everyone’s liking, this is still a first rate, emotion filled thriller.

Star Rating = * * * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack, this is a first rate transfer. The picture quality is sharp throughout as Clint Eastwood brings the darker side of Boston to life. The Dolby Digital soundtrack emphasises the dialogue very well, as you would like with a character driven drama but the surround sound is good especially during the discovery of the body.

BONUS FEATURES

Mystic River: From Page to Screen (11.31 mins)

Director Clint Eastwood and stars Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden talk about bringing the acclaimed novel to the silver screen. Each of the actors talks about the story and their character, with Eastwood revealing that each member of the cast was his first choice. Novelist Dennis Lehane discusses how happy he was with Brian Helgeland’s screenplay and how the ensemble cast fitted the characters that he had created in his head exactly.

OVERALL

A superbly acted film deserves a better DVD than this. While you cannot argue with the presentation of the movie as the picture and sound quality are first rate, the lack of bonus features is a crime for an Oscar winning film. A commentary track and a look at the award winning performances of Tim Robbins and Sean Penn would have made the disc far better value. If you love the film you are going to buy it anyway but some added value won’t have gone amiss.

DVD Star Rating = * *

Jamie Kelwick

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