Mystic River

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2:20

Mystic River

R

Released Oct 15, 2003

2h 17m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

203 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

When the daughter of ex-con Jimmy Marcus is murdered, two of his childhood friends from the neighborhood are involved. Dave, a blue-collar worker, is the last person to see her alive, while Sean, a homicide detective, is heading up the case.

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Critics Consensus

Anchored by the exceptional acting of its strong cast, Mystic River is a somber drama that unfolds in layers and conveys the tragedy of its story with visceral power.

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David Germain

Associated Press

Eastwood and his actors create a brooding drama whose events and interrelationships seem surreally improbable yet painfully authentic.

Nov 12, 2018

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Neil Norman

London Evening Standard

It is a film of magisterial, slow-burning power, one of the finest examples of recent American cinematic storytelling and certainly Eastwood's most mature film.

Jan 11, 2018

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Powerful performances in graphic story. Only 16+.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 26, 2010

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

At first one might assume the film has been set up to be a tense crime thriller. Instead it is a tragedy: the end result is inevitable from the opening scenes. The characters never express any possibility of doing something else.

Rated: 8/10

Jan 21, 2025

Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

Eastwood's film is rooted in a profound misreading, or more to the point, a profound ignorance of society and human relationships. His false and shallow premises lead the filmmaker to construct an unconvincing, fantastical drama.

Feb 15, 2021

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Micheal Compton

Bowling Green Daily News

Mystic River features a moving screenplay, solid direction and a superb cast highlighted by Sean Penn's Oscar-worthy performance.

Nov 15, 2019

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Nashville I.

A force of dark souls. A murder mystery, but also one of the few character studies that’s addictive. It’s incredibly hard to write real, everyday characters that are fascinating that aren’t weird or supernatural characters in some way…this is an exception. Not an uplifting movie at all, but 100% one that you will be completely invested in.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/17/25

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Ricardo B

Brilhantemente escrito e lindamente atuado por um elenco pesadíssimo, estrelado Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon e Laurence Fishburne, que entregam, coletivamente, atuações espetaculares, esse suspense dramático nos leva em um mistério imersivo e um fascinate estudo sobre moral, o peso do trauma e inocência perdida. Marcado por personagens profundamente desenvolvidos e um desfecho inesquecível e desolador, "Sobre Meninos e Lobos" é o tipo de filme que encerra deixando o espectador emocionalmente destruído, mas permanece em nossas mentes muito tempo após os créditos finais começarem a rolar.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/06/25

Full Review

Gregory S

An absolutely incredible movie. The performances by every actor and actress were outstanding.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/30/25

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Chris Y

All actors in this film maybe give their best performances ever.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/11/25

Full Review

Jay C

I was excited to watch this with the high ratings and great cast, but overall I was underwhelmed. The movie has a good premise and potential, but the pacing and ability to build actual suspense and intrigue was lacking. A movie to watch once, but I would not go out of my way to watch it again!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

06/01/25

Full Review

Ari V

Kind of an odd duck this one. Some of the Robins stuff is definitely the best part here, but the apparent "hey, that's just the way the cookie crumbles" ending seems off. Not to mention the overlong guessing game and the seemingly scattered Finney lead up to that ending. Perhaps that's the point. That for all our big heroic talk, most people are just too busy looking out for themselves. But again, it just seems like too many chefs had their hand in this pie. Even if this comes down to a single chef's many intentions.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/17/25

Full Review

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Clint Eastwood

Director

Sean Penn

Jimmy Markum

Tim Robbins

Dave Boyle

Kevin Bacon

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Mystic River: Trailer 1

2:20

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Synopsis

When the daughter of ex-con Jimmy Marcus is murdered, two of his childhood friends from the neighborhood are involved. Dave, a blue-collar worker, is the last person to see her alive, while Sean, a homicide detective, is heading up the case.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Producer: Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Judie Hoyt
Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland, Dennis Lehane
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Malpaso Company, Village Roadshow Prod.
Rating: R (Violence|Language)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 15, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 2, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $90.1M
Runtime: 2h 17m
Sound Mix: Surround

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