Film View #1 – Mystic River

I look up to Clint Eastwood, not only as an actor but as a marvelous director who always knows how to pull my emotional strings. He can work with actors well and get the best performance possible out of them, unlike some director´s like Tim Burton who only has actors that are great actors. The greatest director´s are the ones that work well with actors, show hints off their style and leave their mark on cinematic history. As off now Clint is leaving a large trail of great films and he has always hit his mark. This time i got to watching his 2003 film: Mystic River, many people remember it mostly for losing the Oscar to the third installment in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Luckily, Eastwood has had many critical hit´s since then and has earned a large amount of awards and a few Oscars.

This film tells the story of three former childhood friends who lost their friendship after a traumatizing event. 25 years later, they have all gone their separate ways but when one off their daughter´s is murdered they all start to connect to each other in a different way. The story and characters shine in their spotlight and the actors are fantastic, especially Tim Robbins and Sean Penn.  The mystery of the case holds the viewer´s interest and it leads to a conclusion that is worth your time. The character´s motivations are all understandable untill the last few minutes of the ending, the film could have ended a few minutes earlier but there is the aspect of Sean Penn´s character that is interesting enough to forgive that “second ending”.

You can spot traces off Clint Eastwood´s film style in dramas: The music, character motivations and the ending. So to the fans of Eastwood´s films that have not seen this one, put it on your must see list. Mystic River is without a doubt one of his five strongest films.

*****