Pennie and I took in a movie Saturday night and chose Mystic River. I was skeptical of Mystic River after all the early Oscar hype but I have to say I am impressed. I am also biased against ultra-liberal Tim Robbins, but one cannot argue with his skills as an actor. In fact, the trio of excellent performances by Robbins, Sean Penn (Oscar worthy) and Kevin Bacon would have made this a great watch even if the story were lacking. The fact of the matter is that the story was great too. The novel by Dennis Lehane made the transistion to film well.



One might be tempted to overlook some of the smaller roles in the film with all this talent eating up the screentime, but you cannot miss a near-perfect performance by Marcia Gay Harden. (yet another gold statue?)

Clint Eastwood directed the film and all I can say is that he gets better as a director with each outing. (heck, make it three of the little guys - four if you throw in the Best Film)

RATING 9 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 7:55 PM